Central obesity measured by waist-to-hip ratio independently predicts crohn’s disease risk: a prospective cohort study

Oct 30, 2025Lipids in health and disease

Higher belly fat measured by waist-to-hip ratio may predict Crohn's disease risk

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Abstract

Among 479,590 UK Biobank participants, a (WHR) above the 66th percentile is associated with a 26% increased risk of .

Waist-to-hip ratio-defined central adiposity is associated with an increased risk of Crohn's disease, with a hazard ratio of 1.18.
Waist circumference-defined central obesity did not show a significant association with Crohn's disease risk.
Obesity defined by BMI ≥ 30 was linked to a lower hazard of .
Higher was also associated with a modestly lower hazard of Crohn's disease.
The association between WHR and Crohn's disease persisted even after excluding cases that occurred within the first 24 months of follow-up.

AI simplified

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated associations between several obesity indicators and the risks of (CD) and (UC), the two principal clinical phenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS: Data from 479,590 UK Biobank participants (mean age ± standard deviation: 56.5 ± 8.09 years; 54.5% female) were analyzed. Participants were classified based on waist circumference (WC). Cox proportional hazards models were used to quantify associations between multiple adiposity measures and incident CD and UC, adjusting for demographic, behavioral, and clinical covariates.

RESULTS: During a median observation period of 12.5 years (maximum 15.6 years), 1,518 incident CD cases and 2,957 incident UC cases were identified. Taking into account demographic variables (age, sex, and ethnic background), lifestyle indicators (including smoking, alcohol intake, sleep, diet, physical exercise, and employment), socioeconomic status measured by the Townsend Deprivation Index(TDI), coexisting conditions (hypertension and diabetes), inflammatory status (C-reactive protein), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug consumption, (WHR)-defined central adiposity was found to elevate the risk of CD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-1.34). However, WC-defined central obesity did not demonstrate a statistically significant link to CD risk (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.97-1.27). In minimally adjusted models, WHR-defined central obesity was associated with an increased hazard of UC (HR 1.13; 95% CI 1.05-1.23); this association attenuated to non-significance after full covariate adjustment (HR 1.03; 95% CI 0.95-1.13). Obesity defined by BMI ≥ 30 showed no relation to CD, whereas it was associated with a lower hazard of UC (HR 0.86; 95% CI 0.78-0.95). Similarly, higher (BFP: male > 25%, female > 35%) was associated with a modestly lower hazard of CD (HR 0.92; 95% CI 0.85-0.99). Excluding incident IBD events that occurred during the first 24 months of follow-up, the WHR-CD association persisted (HR 1.19; 95% CI 1.04-1.36). Additionally, individuals in the highest third of WHR-for-BMI residuals (> 66th percentile) exhibited a markedly elevated risk of CD (HR 1.26; 95% CI 1.10-1.44).

CONCLUSIONS: Central obesity, assessed by WHR, independently predicts the risk of CD, with a particularly pronounced effect in females, irrespective of BMI or other metabolic confounders. Conversely, higher BMI and BFP were inversely associated with UC risk.

Key numbers

1.18

Increase in Risk

Hazard ratio for associated with -defined central obesity after full adjustment.

0.86

Inverse Association with Risk

Hazard ratio for among obese participants compared to normal weight.

479,590

Participants in the Study

Total number of participants analyzed in the UK Biobank cohort.

Full Text

We can’t show the full text here under this license. Use the link below to read it at the source.

View full text (PDF) ↗View full text (HTML) ↗

Central obesity measured by waist-to-hip ratio independently predicts crohn’s disease risk: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief