Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41964021›Full record

ArticleLipids in health and disease2026

Comparative effects of central adiposity and BMI trajectories on cardiometabolic diseases in Chinese adults: a longitudinal cohort study.

Limei Cao, Huifan Jia, Xinyu Si, Kexin Cao, Qian Gao, Yongxia Ding, Peili Zhang, Juping Wang, Tong Wang

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Lipids in health and disease, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Limei CaoDepartment of Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
Huifan JiaDepartment of Medical Sciences, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
Xinyu SiDepartment of Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
Kexin CaoDepartment of Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
Qian GaoDepartment of Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
Yongxia DingDepartment of Nursing, School of Nursing, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
Peili ZhangDepartment of Nursing, School of Nursing, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. zhangpeili@sxmu.edu.cn.
Juping WangDepartment of Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. wangjuping@sxmu.edu.cn.
Tong WangDepartment of Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. tongwang@sxmu.edu.cn.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 82073674 and No. 82373692Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi No. 202303021211121
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWhether long-term trajectories of central adiposity indices predict cardiometabolic diseases better than BMI remains uncertain. We compared trajectories of central adiposity indices and BMI in relation to cardiometabolic outcomes and estimated potential population benefits from trajectory improvement.

methodsAmong 4,295 adults from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, group-based trajectory modeling identified three trajectories for each obesity index. BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and body roundness index (BRI) showed Low-stable, Moderate-stable, and High-stable patterns, whereas the high ABSI (a body shape index) group followed a High-to-low pattern. Cox models examined associations with incident diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) between 2015 and 2020. Δβ bootstrap tests compared association strength across indices, and two one-sided tests (TOST) assessed equivalence within ± 10–15%. Population impact fractions (PIFs) estimated preventable events under counterfactual trajectory-shift scenarios.

resultsDuring follow-up, 379 diabetes, 458 heart disease, 252 stroke, and 84 CMM events occurred. Compared with the Low-stable group, the High-stable groups of BMI, WC, WHtR, and BRI were associated with higher risks of all outcomes, with hazard ratios of approximately 2.7–3.5 for diabetes and broadly elevated risks for heart disease, stroke, and CMM, whereas ABSI showed no significant associations. Δβ contrasts indicated that WHtR and BRI had significantly stronger associations with diabetes than BMI and WC, while differences among indices for heart disease and stroke were small and often within TOST equivalence margins. Under the realistic partial-shift scenario, PIFs suggested that improving trajectories could avert about 6% of diabetes cases and 4–7% of CMM events, with smaller but meaningful reductions in heart disease and stroke.

conclusionsCentral adiposity indices, particularly WHtR and BRI, demonstrated favorable trajectory-based discrimination for diabetes, whereas differences among anthropometric measures were modest for cardiovascular outcomes. These findings support an outcome-specific and context-sensitive approach to adiposity assessment.

Indexed as

AdiposityBody Mass IndexCardiovascular DiseasesHeart DiseasesObesity, AbdominalAgedCardiometabolic Risk FactorsChinaEast Asian PeopleFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedWaist CircumferenceCardiometabolic diseasesCardiometabolic multimorbidityGroup-based trajectory modelingObesityPopulation impact fraction

Identifiers

PMID41964021
PMCPMC13188748

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