Body-mass index and risk of obesity-related complex multimorbidity: an observational multicohort study

BackgroundThe accumulation of disparate diseases in complex multimorbidity makes prevention difficult if each disease is targeted separately. We aimed to examine obesity as a shared risk factor for common diseases, determine associations between obesity-related diseases, and examine the role of obesity in the development of complex multimorbidity (four or more comorbid diseases).MethodsWe did an observational study and used pooled prospective data from two Finnish cohort studies (the Health and Social Support Study and the Finnish Public Sector Study) comprising 114 657 adults aged 16–78 years at study entry (1998–2013). A cohort of 499 357 adults (aged 38–73 years at study entry; 2006–10) from the UK Biobank…

• WT
  Wellcome Trust

  Award: 221854/Z/20/Z
• AO
  Academy of Finland

  Award: 329202
• T
  Työsuojelurahasto

  Award: 190424
• EA
  Emil Aaltosen Säätiö

  Award: 339568
• N
  NordForsk

  Award: 75021
• HI
  Helsinki Institute of Life Science, Helsingin Yliopisto
• MR
  Medical Research Council

  Awards: MR/K013351/1, MR/S011676/1, MR/R024227/1, MR/S011676/1, MC_PC_17228
• EA
  Economic and Social Research Council
• NI
  National Institute on Aging

  Award: R01AG056477