Cardiometabolic & kidneyCohort study
Implications of Lancet framework definition of obesity in relation to cardiovascular diseases
- Prospective cohort study
- UK Biobank
Authors' conclusion
The new framework advances CVD risk stratification beyond BMI alone, emphasizing the importance of incorporating excess body fat and functional health assessments into obesity diagnosis.
Study context
- Population
- UK Biobank participants enrolled 2006–201051,640 incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) cases
- Participants
- 459,102 participants
- Exposure
- Preclinical and clinical obesity vs no obesity
- Outcome
- Incident CVD
- Follow-up
- Median 11.0 years
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Each group vs no obesityHazard ratio (95% CI)
Preclinical obesity
1.11(1.08–1.15)
Clinical obesity
1.77(1.72–1.82)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
CVD subtypes (coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, HF)
- Clinical obesity associated with substantially higher risks of all subtypes, including CHD, stroke and HF
Incident CVD, preclinical and clinical obesity with body mass index (BMI) below conventional obesity threshold (subgroup)
- Elevated incident CVD risk, strongest association for CHD
Original publication
Implications of Lancet framework definition of obesity in relation to cardiovascular diseases. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 28 May 2026. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwag291
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it