• Michael J Stein, Beate Fischer, Patricia Bohmann, Wolfgang Ahrens, Klaus Berger, Hermann Brenner, Kathrin Günther, Volker Harth, Jana-Kristin Heise, André Karch, Carolina J Klett-Tammen, Lena Koch-Gallenkamp, Lilian Krist, Wolfgang Lieb, Claudia Meinke-Franze, Karin B Michels, Rafael Mikolajczyk, Katharina Nimptsch, Nadia Obi, Annette Peters, Tobias Pischon, Sabine Schipf, Börge Schmidt, Andreas Stang, Sigrid Thierry, Stefan N Willich, Kerstin Wirkner, Michael F Leitzmann, and Anja M Sedlmeier.
• Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Regensburg; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Center for Translational Oncology, University Hospital Regensburg and Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), Regensburg; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Bremen, Germany; Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; Department for Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany; Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Institute of Epidemiology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany; Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; Institute for Prevention and Cancer Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics, and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany; Molecular Epidemiology Research Group, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany; Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), Medical Faculty, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany; Biobank Technology Platform, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; NAKO Study Center, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Augsburg University Hospital, Augsburg, Germany; LIFE-Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
• Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2024 Apr 5; 121 (7): 207213207-213.

BackgroundObesity is a worldwide health problem. We conducted detailed analyses of anthropometric measures in a comprehensive, population-based, current cohort in Germany.MethodsIn the German National Cohort (NAKO), we analyzed cross-sectional data on body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumference, subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) as measured by ultrasound, and body fat percentage. The data were stratified by sex, age, and self-reported physicians' diagnoses of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), metabolic diseases (MetD), cardiometabolic diseases (CMD), and cancer.ResultsData were available from 204 751 participants (age, 49.9 ± 12.8 years; 50.5% women). Body size measures generally increased with age. Men had a higher BMI, larger waist circumference, and more VAT than women, while women had a larger hip circumference, more SAT, and a higher body fat percentage than men. For example, the mean BMI of participants over age 60 was 28.3 kg/m2 in men and 27.6 kg/m2 in women. CVD, MetD, and CMD were associated with higher anthropometric values, while cancer was not. For example, the mean BMI was 25.3 kg/m2 in healthy women, 29.4 kg/m2 in women with CMD, and 25.4 kg/m2 in women with cancer.ConclusionObesity is widespread in Germany, with notable differences between the sexes in anthro - pometric values. Obesity was more common in older participants and those with chronic diseases other than cancer. Elevated values were especially common in multimorbid individuals.

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