Overview

• Larger neck circumference is linked to higher rates of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and coronary heart disease.
• Associations also include greater risk of type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes and obstructive sleep apnoea with daytime fatigue and accident risk.
• Proposed high‑risk cutoffs are 17 inches (43 cm) or more for men and 14 inches (35.5 cm) or more for women.
• Elevated risk can be present even in people with a normal BMI, indicating neck size adds predictive information beyond traditional metrics.
• Each additional centimetre above these thresholds is associated with higher death and hospitalisation rates, and experts caution the measure should complement rather than replace other assessments.