Participant characteristics by adulthood BMI and young adulthood BMI in CKB
| Variable | Adulthood BMI (age 52 years), kg/m2 | Young adulthood BMI (age 25 years), kg/m2 | ||||||
| <20.0 (n=66 595) | 20.0–23.4 (n=192 058) | 23.5–26.9 (n=171 162) | ≥27.0 (n=83 074) | <20.0 (n=98 288) | 20.0–23.4 (n=226 932) | 23.5–26.9 (n=89 941) | ≥27.0 (n=15 315) | |
| Adulthood BMI (SD), kg/m2 | 18.7 (1.1) | 21.8 (0.9) | 25.0 (0.9) | 29.3 (2.0) | 22.45 (3.1) | 23.6 (3.1) | 24.9 (3.4) | 26.7 (3.9) |
| Young adulthood BMI (SD), kg/m2 | 20.5 (2.3) | 21.5 (2.3) | 22.2 (2.5) | 23.2 (2.8) | 18.8 (1.1) | 21.7 (1.0) | 24.8 (0.9) | 28.6 (1.7) |
| Age and lifestyle factors | ||||||||
| Age (SD), year | 52.5 (11.8) | 50.8 (10.8) | 51.3 (10.4) | 51.7 (10.2) | 49.4 (10.1) | 50.3 (10.2) | 52.8 (10.4) | 55.3 (10.2) |
| Female (%) | 55.1 | 57.9 | 59.5 | 63.6 | 63.7 | 52.5 | 60.0 | 63.9 |
| Urban region (%) | 31.0 | 38.8 | 49.1 | 56.0 | 53.8 | 47.2 | 45.1 | 47.9 |
| ≥9 years of education (%) | 48.5 | 49.7 | 50.2 | 48.7 | 54.1 | 51.4 | 47.4 | 43.8 |
| Household income ≥35 000 yuan/year (%) | 14.8 | 17.2 | 19.3 | 20.1 | 20.2 | 18.7 | 17.2 | 16.7 |
| Ever regular smoking (%) | ||||||||
| Male | 76.0 | 70.1 | 63.7 | 61.4 | 57.6 | 59.0 | 59.8 | 60.7 |
| Female | 4.2 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.6 |
| Weekly drinking (%) | ||||||||
| Male | 31.5 | 34.0 | 33.1 | 32.4 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 34.3 | 32.4 |
| Female | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Blood pressure and anthropometry | ||||||||
| SBP (SD), mm Hg | 122.9 (20.9) | 128.1 (20.4) | 133.5 (20.8) | 139.4 (21.3) | 129.6 (20.5) | 130.3 (20.4) | 133.3 (21.3) | 138.0 (22.6) |
| RPG (SD), mmol/L | 5.9 (2.1) | 5.9 (2.1) | 6.1 (2.4) | 6.4 (2.6) | 6.0 (2.0) | 6.0 (2.1) | 6.2 (2.6) | 6.9 (2.7) |
| Total physical activity (SD), MET hour/day | 21.4 (13.9) | 21.6 (14.2) | 20.8 (13.8) | 19.8 (13.0) | 20.5 (13.1) | 21.1 (14.2) | 21.5 (14.3) | 20.8 (13.4) |
| Waist circumference (SD), cm | 68.3 (5.2) | 75.8 (5.7) | 83.9 (6.1) | 93.0 (7.4) | 78.5 (9.6) | 80.1 (9.5) | 82.5 (9.7) | 86.5 (10.5) |
| Hip circumference (SD), cm | 83.6 (4.3) | 88.2 (4.4) | 93.0 (4.6) | 99.0 (5.9) | 89.8 (6.6) | 90.9 (6.7) | 92.4 (7.1) | 94.7 (7.9) |
| Waist to hip ratio (SD) | 0.82 (0.06) | 0.86 (0.06) | 0.90 (0.06) | 0.94 (0.07) | 0.87 (0.07) | 0.88 (0.07) | 0.89 (0.07) | 0.91 (0.07) |
| Height (SD), cm | 158.6 (8.3) | 158.6 (8.1) | 158.8 (8.3) | 158.9 (8.5) | 160.1 (8.4) | 158.8 (8.1) | 157.8 (7.7) | 157.1 (9.1) |
| Leg length (SD), cm | 73.9 (4.9) | 73.6 (4.7) | 73.3 (4.8) | 72.9 (4.9) | 74.3 (4.9) | 73.5 (4.8) | 72.8 (4.5) | 72.2 (5.0) |
| Fat percentage (SD), % | 18.9 (4.9) | 24.9 (5.7) | 30.7 (6.2) | 36.6 (7.6) | 26.5 (7.8) | 27.9 (8.1) | 29.6 (8.8) | 32.1 (9.1) |
| Prior disease history (%) | ||||||||
| Self-reported diabetes | 1.8 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 9.2 |
| Screen-detected diabetes | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 5.0 |
| Family history of diabetes | 3.7 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 6.7 |
| Family history of cancer | 13.0 | 13.7 | 14.3 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 14.3 | 14.3 | 14.2 |
All values were based on baseline, except for young adulthood BMI. Results were adjusted for age, region and sex (where appropriate). For young adulthood BMI, regular smoker referred to smoking status at age 25 years. Young adulthood BMI was missing in 82 413 participants.
BMI, body mass index; CKB, China Kadoorie Biobank; MET, metabolic equivalent of task; RPG, random plasma glucose; SBP, systolic blood pressure.