Are people with metabolically healthy obesity really healthy? A prospective cohort study of 381,363 UK Biobank participants.

ABSTRACT:

Aims/hypothesis

People with obesity and a normal metabolic profile are sometimes referred to as having 'metabolically healthy obesity' (MHO). However, whether this group of individuals are actually 'healthy' is uncertain. This study aims to examine the associations of MHO with a wide range of obesity-related outcomes.

Methods

This is a population-based prospective cohort study of 381,363 UK Biobank participants with a median follow-up of 11.2 years. MHO was defined as having a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² and at least four of the six metabolically healthy criteria. Outcomes included incident diabetes and incident and fatal atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD), heart failure (HF) and respiratory diseases.

Results

Compared with people who were not obese at baseline, those with MHO

SUBMITTER: Zhou Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8382657 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature