One in three people is overweight and one in seven is obese in Jilin Province, north east China, finds a large study, published in the online journal BMJ Open.
Regular intake of meat and alcohol, having ever been married, and getting less than 7 hours sleep a night were all associated with a heightened risk, the research showed.
The researchers base their findings on a population survey of nearly 21, 000 randomly selected people aged 18 to 79, in Jilin Province, north east China in 2012.