Associations of general obesity and central obesity with the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in a Korean population: A national population‐based cohort study

Numerous previous studies have shown an association between general obesity and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, relatively few reports on the association of central obesity and HCC are available in Asian populations. Therefore, we investigated the association between WC representing central obesity and the risk of HCC in addition to BMI representing general obesity and the risk of HCC in Korea. A total of 10 505 818 participants who received the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) health checkups in 2009 were screened for study eligibility, and 26 979 cases of HCC occurred during the 7.3 years of mean follow‐up. General obesity increased the risk of HCC with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.14 (95% CI, 1.11‐1.18) for BMI 25.0‐