Study design and participants

This cohort study used UK Biobank data and followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guideline. The UK Biobank is a large population-based prospective study, recruiting more than half a million UK individuals aged 40–69 years between 2006 and 2010. At baseline, sociodemographic, lifestyles, and health-related information were collected via touchscreen questionnaires and physical measurements. Participants were followed for health-related outcomes through linkage to routinely available national datasets, including the Hospital Episode Statistics for England, the Patient Episode Database for Wales, and the Scottish Morbidity Record for Scotland. Appropriate informed consent was obtained from participants, and ethical approval was covered by the UK Biobank. More details of the UK Biobank study are available elsewhere¹⁹.

This study included individuals who attended the baseline assessment of UK Biobank. The exclusion criteria were: (1) individuals with no information on birth weight, childhood body size, or adulthood body mass index (BMI); (2) individuals who were part of a multiple birth; and (3) individuals who were lost or died during follow-up (Supplementary Fig. S1).