This paper examines the association between thigh circumference and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD) and total mortality. A total of 1436 men and 1380 women of the Danish MONICA project were enrolled and followed up for 12.5 years. A low thigh circumference was associated with increased risk of CVD, CHD and total mortality in both men and women. For practical purposes, the authors recommend the use of a common threshold of 60 cm. Above this threshold, there was no additional benefit of having larger thighs. Interestingly, these findings were found to be independent of abdominal and general adiposity, lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure and lipids. Thus, a small thigh circumference seems to be associated with an increased risk of CVD and premature death. This effect may be related to too little muscle mass which is a reversible factor that could be addressed in prevention strategies. Furthermore, thigh circumference may be considered in the quantification of CVD risk and related mortality.
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