About the Authors

Karani S. Vimaleswaran

Contributed equally to this work with: Karani S. Vimaleswaran, Diane J. Berry, Elina Hyppönen

Affiliation Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics and MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom

Diane J. Berry

Contributed equally to this work with: Karani S. Vimaleswaran, Diane J. Berry, Elina Hyppönen

Affiliation Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics and MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom

Chen Lu

Affiliation Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Emmi Tikkanen

Affiliations Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

Stefan Pilz

Affiliations Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Austria, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Linda T. Hiraki

Affiliation Program in Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Jason D. Cooper

Affiliation Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation/Wellcome Trust Diabetes and Inflammation Laboratory, Department of Medical Genetics, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Zari Dastani

Affiliation Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Rui Li

Affiliation Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Denise K. Houston

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston Salem, North Carolina, United States of America

Andrew R. Wood

Affiliation Genetics of Complex Traits, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom

Karl Michaëlsson

Affiliation Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Liesbeth Vandenput

Affiliation Center for Bone and Arthritis Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

Lina Zgaga

Affiliations Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, Medical School University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Laura M. Yerges-Armstrong

Affiliation University of Maryland School of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Mark I. McCarthy

Affiliations Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Churchill Hospital, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Churchill Hospital, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom

Josée Dupuis

Affiliations Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, United States of America

Marika Kaakinen

Affiliation Institute of Health Sciences and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

Marcus E. Kleber

Affiliation LURIC Study non-profit LLC, Freiburg, Germany and Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

Karen Jameson

Affiliation MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Nigel Arden

Affiliations NIHR Musculoskeletal BRU, Botnar Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom, MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Olli Raitakari

Affiliation Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku and Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

Jorma Viikari

Affiliation Department of Medicine, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

Kurt K. Lohman

Affiliation Department of Biostatistical Sciences, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston Salem, North Carolina, United States of America

Luigi Ferrucci

Affiliation Clinical Research Branch, Harbor Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Håkan Melhus

Affiliation Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Erik Ingelsson

Affiliation Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Liisa Byberg

Affiliation Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Lars Lind

Affiliation Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Mattias Lorentzon

Affiliation Center for Bone and Arthritis Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

Veikko Salomaa

Affiliation National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

Harry Campbell

Affiliation Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Malcolm Dunlop

Affiliations Colon Cancer Genetics Group and Academic Coloproctology, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, MRC Human Genetics Unit Western General Hospital Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Braxton D. Mitchell

Affiliation University of Maryland School of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Karl-Heinz Herzig

Affiliations Institute of Health Sciences and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

Anneli Pouta

Affiliation Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

Anna-Liisa Hartikainen

Affiliation Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Public Health and General Practice, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium

Membership of the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium is provided in the Acknowledgments.

Elizabeth A. Streeten

Affiliation University of Maryland School of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Evropi Theodoratou

Affiliation Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Antti Jula

Affiliation National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

Nicholas J. Wareham

Affiliation MRC Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Claes Ohlsson

Affiliation Center for Bone and Arthritis Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

Timothy M. Frayling

Affiliation Genetics of Complex Traits, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom

Stephen B. Kritchevsky

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston Salem, North Carolina, United States of America

Timothy D. Spector

Affiliation Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

J. Brent Richards

Affiliations Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Terho Lehtimäki

Affiliation Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, Tampere University Hospital and University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

Willem H. Ouwehand

Affiliations Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, United Kingdom, NHS Blood and Transplant, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Peter Kraft

Affiliation Program in Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Cyrus Cooper

Affiliation MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Winfried März

Affiliations Synlab Academy, Mannheim, Germany, Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

Chris Power

Affiliation Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics and MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom

Ruth J. F. Loos

Affiliation MRC Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Thomas J. Wang

Affiliation Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

Affiliations Institute of Health Sciences and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College, Faculty of Medicine, London, United Kingdom, Department of Children, Young People and Families, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland

John C. Whittaker

Affiliations Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom, Quantitative Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, United Kingdom

Aroon D. Hingorani

Affiliations Genetic Epidemiology Group, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Division of Population Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom, Division of Medicine, Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Elina Hyppönen

Contributed equally to this work with: Karani S. Vimaleswaran, Diane J. Berry, Elina Hyppönen

e.hypponen@ucl.ac.uk

Affiliation Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics and MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

LTH is currently supported by a Canada Institute of Research (CIHR) Fellowship award. CC has received honoraria and consulting fees from Amgen, Eli Lilly, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, and Servier. WM is an employee of synlab laboratory services GmbH. Synlab offers vitamin D testing. TJW is on the scientific advisory board for Diasorin Inc. and has received research support from them. JCW is 90% employed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) whilst maintaining a 10% appointment at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and holds GSK shares. All other authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: KSV DJB MM OR JV BDM EAM NJW TM TL WHO CC TJW MRJ JCW ADH EH. Performed the experiments: KSV DJB CL ET SP LTH JDC KHL ZD RL ARW KM LZ LMY JD MCK KJ VS BDM EAS DKH TL PK CC RJFL JCW ADH EH. Analyzed the data: KSV DJB CL ET SP LTH JDC KHL ZD RL ARW KM LZ LMY JD MCK KJ VS BDM EAS DKH TL PK CC RJFL JCW ADH EH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: KSV DJB SP LTH KM LMY MM JD MK NA OR JV SBK HM EI LB LL VS BDM KH EAS DKH TL PK CC WM RJFL CP MRJ JCW ADH EH. Wrote the first draft of the manuscript: KSV DJB EH. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: KSV DJB EH. ICMJE criteria for authorship read and met: KSV DJB CL ET SP LTH JDC ZD RL DKH ARW KM LV LZ LMY MM JD MK MEK KJ NA OR JV KKL LF HM EI LB LL ML VS HC MD BDM KHH AP ALH EAS ET AJ NJW CO TMF SBK TDS JBR TL WHO PK CC WM CP RJFL TJW MRJ JCW ADH EH. Agree with manuscript results and conclusions: KSV DJB CL ET SP LTH JDC ZD RL DKH ARW KM LV LZ LMY MM JD MK MEK KJ NA OR JV KKL LF HM EI LB LL ML VS HC MD BDM KHH AP ALH EAS ET AJ NJW CO TMF SBK TDS JBR TL WHO PK CC WM CP RJFL TJW MRJ JCW ADH EH. Obtained the data: KSV DJB SP LTH ZD RL KM LV MM MK MCK KJ NA OR JV SBK LF HM EI LB LL ML VS HC MD BDM AP AH ET NJW CO TMF DKH JBR TL WHO PK CC WM CP ADH MRJ EH. Provided the administrative, technical, or material support: KSV DJB KM MK OR JV SBK LF HM EI LL VS TMF DKH TL CP EH. Supervised the study: JD OR JV SBK HC MD BDM EAS AJ ET TS TMF JBR TL TJW MRJ JCW ADH EH.