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Fig. 1 | BMC Medicine

Fig. 1

From: Separating the effects of early and later life adiposity on colorectal cancer risk: a Mendelian randomization study

Fig. 1

Directed acyclic graphs displaying four possible scenarios that could explain a causal effect between body size at age 10 years and colorectal cancer within the univariable and multivariable Mendelian randomization analysis. (Top left) The total effect of early life body size on colorectal cancer risk, (top right) early life body size has a direct effect on colorectal cancer risk independent of adult body size, (bottom left) early life body size has an indirect effect on colorectal cancer risk only through adult body size, and (bottom right) early life body size has both direct and indirect effects on colorectal cancer risk. The dashed arrows allude to the assumption that genetic instruments should not be associated with confounding factors

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