Seven body-size measures linked to cardiovascular disease
Hazard ratios, which compare rates of new disease, ranged from 1.13 to 1.49 for the highest versus lowest thirds across seven body-size measures.
Dose-response, independent replication
Limit: Lipids and medication could confound the associations; baseline data were unavailable in one cohort
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational study followed 10,557 adults in China and 5,231 in England, all aged 45 or older and initially free of cardiovascular disease. Researchers compared seven measured body-size indicators, including body mass index, which relates weight to height, and waist size. The cohorts recorded 3,175 new cases of cardiovascular disease, which affects the heart and blood vessels.
All seven measures were associated with higher disease rates as their values rose, even after accounting for other factors. Prediction models developed in one country also distinguished higher-risk from lower-risk participants in the other. However, the authors concluded that estimates of absolute risk needed country-specific adjustment. They recommended adding waist size and a waist measure adjusted for body weight to body mass index in cardiovascular risk assessment.
Why it matters
The study addressed which measures of body fat might help assess cardiovascular risk in aging populations with different body-fat distributions.
Caveats
This observational analysis cannot establish that greater body fat caused cardiovascular disease. The preprint has not been peer-reviewed, and the findings concern adults aged 45 or older without cardiovascular disease at baseline.
From the paper
- Participants
After applying these criteria, the analytic sample comprised 15,788 participants (China 10,557; England 5,231) (Fig. 1).
- Result
A simultaneous one-tertile increase in the adiposity–blood-pressure mixture yielded a joint hazard ratio of 1.59 (95% CI 1.49–1.70).
Quoted word for word from the full text on researchsquare.com.
- Machine learning
- Cardiovascular disease
- Body mass index
- Incident cardiovascular disease
- Blood pressure
- Humans
The paper
Third People's Hospital of Yunnan Province
Research Square, Oct 28, 2026, Open access, CC BY, Preprint, not peer-reviewed
