Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Nutrients1 Oct 2026

Circulating Fatty Acid Composition and Subsequent Adiposity Gain: A Prospective Study in the China Kadoorie Biobank

Haozhi Niu¹
Menghan Wang¹
Sihong Wei¹
Guoqing Ma¹
Huiying Wang¹
Hongkai Xu¹
Yu Wang¹
Xin Liu^1,2

¹Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
²Key Laboratory for Disease Prevention and Control and Health Promotion of Shaanxi Province, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases of Ministry of Education of China, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Evidence linking circulating fatty acids to adiposity gain remains limited. We examined associations of circulating fatty acid composition with longitudinal adiposity progression among Chinese adults. Methods: We included 1498 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank with baseline nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of circulating fatty acid proportions and repeated measurements of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference over a median of 8.22 years. Excessive adiposity increase was defined a priori as a BMI increase of ≥5% from baseline. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate risk ratios (RRs) or prevalence ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with multivariable adjustment when appropriate. Results: Overall, 499 participants (33.3%) experienced excessive adiposity increase. A one-standard-deviation (SD) higher monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) proportion was associated with a lower risk of excessive adiposity increase (RR = 0.870; 95% CI, 0.801–0.945; q = 0.004), whereas a higher ω-6 proportion was associated with a higher risk (RR = 1.115; 95% CI, 1.029–1.208; q = 0.016). However, in the cross-sectional analyses, MUFA and ω-6 showed associations with baseline overweight or obesity in directions opposite to their prospective associations with excessive adiposity increase. Conclusions: Higher circulating MUFA and ω-6 proportions were associated with lower and higher risks of a ≥5% BMI increase, respectively. The associations were less consistent across alternative outcome definitions, particularly for ω-6.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{niu2026circulating,
  title = {{Circulating Fatty Acid Composition and Subsequent Adiposity Gain: A Prospective Study in the China Kadoorie Biobank}},
  author = {Haozhi Niu and Menghan Wang and Sihong Wei and Guoqing Ma and Huiying Wang and Hongkai Xu and Yu Wang and Xin Liu},
  journal = {Nutrients},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3390/nu18203401},
  url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/20/3401},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Circulating Fatty Acid Composition and Subsequent Adiposity Gain: A Prospective Study in the China Kadoorie Biobank
AU  - Haozhi Niu
AU  - Menghan Wang
AU  - Sihong Wei
AU  - Guoqing Ma
AU  - Huiying Wang
AU  - Hongkai Xu
AU  - Yu Wang
AU  - Xin Liu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Nutrients
DO  - 10.3390/nu18203401
UR  - https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/20/3401
AB  - Background/Objectives: Evidence linking circulating fatty acids to adiposity gain remains limited. We examined associations of circulating fatty acid composition with longitudinal adiposity progression among Chinese adults. Methods: We included 1498 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank with baseline nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of circulating fatty acid proportions and repeated measurements of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference over a median of 8.22 years. Excessive adiposity increase was defined a priori as a BMI increase of ≥5% from baseline. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate risk ratios (RRs) or prevalence ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with multivariable adjustment when appropriate. Results: Overall, 499 participants (33.3%) experienced excessive adiposity increase. A one-standard-deviation (SD) higher monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) proportion was associated with a lower risk of excessive adiposity increase (RR = 0.870; 95% CI, 0.801–0.945; q = 0.004), whereas a higher ω-6 proportion was associated with a higher risk (RR = 1.115; 95% CI, 1.029–1.208; q = 0.016). However, in the cross-sectional analyses, MUFA and ω-6 showed associations with baseline overweight or obesity in directions opposite to their prospective associations with excessive adiposity increase. Conclusions: Higher circulating MUFA and ω-6 proportions were associated with lower and higher risks of a ≥5% BMI increase, respectively. The associations were less consistent across alternative outcome definitions, particularly for ω-6.
SN  - 2072-6643
ER  -

Abstract

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