Estimated relative risks of disease per unit of BMI above 22kg/m2
| Disease | RR per unit BMI above BMI 22 | RR per unit BMI above BMI 22 | Age adjustments * (x = mulitplier of differential risk) |
Smoking status adjustments * (Never smoker = 1.0) |
| Men | Women | |||
| All cause mortality | 1.07 | 1.03 | x 0.98 from age 50 x 0.95 from age 60 x 0.90 from age 70 |
inconsistent |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 1.07 | 1.10 | x 0.70 from age 65 | x 2.50 for current smokers |
| Stroke | 1.04 | 1.04 | x 0.75 from age 65 | |
| Diabetes | 1.18 | 1.22 | x 0.92 from age 65 x 0.90 from age 75 |
|
| COPD | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||
| Cancer - Lung | 0.97 | 0.98 | ||
| Cancer - Breast | 1.00 | 1.00 1.02 from age 50 |
||
| Cancer - Oral | ||||
| Cancer - Colorectal | 1.04 | 1.02 | x 0.90 over age 45 | |
| Cancer - Oesophagal (all forms combined) | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||
| Cancer - Oesophagal (Adenocarcinoma) | 1.10 | 1.08 | ||
| Cancer - Oesophagal (Squamous cell) | 0.96 | 0.89 | ||
| Cancer - Kidney (renal) | 1.05 | 1.05 | x 0.60 for current smokers | |
| Cancer - Gallbladder | 1.02 | 1.06 | x 1.17 from age 45 men x 0.80 from age 45 women |
|
| Cancer - Womb (endometrial) | --- | 1.10 |
*Adjustments for age and smoking are given as mulitpliers of the differential risk from base (1.0). Thus an adjustment mulitplier of x 0.95 applied to an RR of 1.20 would lead to an RR of 1.19
(calculated as RR' = 1 + A(RR-1) where RR is the given relative risk, RR' is the adjusted relative risk and A is the adjustment multiplier).
For commentary on the sources, see Data sources page
For an appendix to this table citing more detailed information, please click on the Apppendix Link - Relative Risk assessments (pdf 0.7MB)
Click here to view Estimated relatative risks of diease by BMI category: overweight and obesity