Information on anthropometric characteristics is considered very important for two reasons. Firstly, the incidence of some cancers may be related to anthropometric patterns (for example, height, fat distribution), particularly cancers of the breast, endometrium and possibly colon. Secondly, anthropometric characteristics are linked to energy intake, energy metabolism and metabolic efficiency as well as to physical activity. Body mass index (BMI), for example, may be related to the type of energy-providing nutrients as well as to total energy intake.

Anthropometric examinations were undertaken by trained observers using standardized methods and included measurements of weight, height and waist and hip circumference. In the ‘health conscious’ group, UK, (those that were recruited through, for instance, the Vegetarian Society of the UK and health magazines), anthropometric measures were self-reported.

In a sample of the cohort aged 50-64, mean measured weight in men ranged from 83.6kg in Heidelberg, Germany to 77.0kg in Turin, Italy and in women from 73.3kg in Granada, Spain to 60.2kg in South France.

Mean height in men ranged from 176.8cm in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden to 166.6cm in Murcia, Spain and in women from 164.5cm in Utrecht, The Netherlands to 154.4cm in Granada, Spain.

Mean body mass index (BMI; weight in kg divided by height in meters squared), for men, ranged from 29.3kg m^-2 in Granada, Spain to 25.2kg m^-2 in the UK ‘health conscious’ group and, in women, from 30.8kg m^-2 in Granada, Spain to 23.5kg m^-2 in South France. Overall, the mean BMI of most EPIC centres exceeded 25kg m^-2, i.e. overweight. More than 50% of all EPIC participants in this age group were overweight or obese. Obesity was less common in France and the UK ‘health conscious’ group but more common in more southerly centres such as in Spain, Italy and Greece.

Large waist circumference or a high waist-to-hip ratio in men was most common in centres from Spain, Greece and Italy, and in women, from centres in Germany and Bilthoven, The Netherlands.

Reference : M. Haftenberger et al. "Overweight, obesity and fat distribution in 50 to 64 year-old participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)" Public Health Nutrition, Supplement (in press)