Higher relative fat mass is linked to Parkinson's disease
In more than 26,000 US adults, people in the highest quarter of relative fat mass had 2.71 times the odds of Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's Disease
Researchers analysed cross-sectional survey data from 26,029 American adults aged 40 and older collected between 1999 and 2018. Across the study group, 245 participants (0.94%) were identified as having Parkinson's disease. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, relative fat mass, an indicator of body fat, was positively associated with Parkinson's disease, with an odds ratio of 1.40. Participants in the highest quarter of relative fat mass had 2.71 times the odds of having the condition compared with those in the lowest quarter. Subgroup analyses showed that this link was significantly stronger in adults under 60 years old.
Why it matters
Parkinson's disease is a common age-related neurological disorder, but previous studies examining its relationship with body fat have produced conflicting results. Clarifying how measures of body composition relate to neurodegenerative conditions may help researchers identify metabolic factors tied to disease risk as people grow older.
Caveats
Because the study was cross-sectional, it captured health data at a single point in time and cannot determine whether higher body fat preceded Parkinson's disease or resulted from it. In addition, only 245 participants in the sample had the disease, which may limit the certainty of findings in smaller age subgroups.
The paper
Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital
Parkinson's Disease · 6 Oct 2026