Previous studies suggest that obesity is related to increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, only a few studies report on measures of central vs. peripheral adiposity. We examined the association between anthropometric measures, including waist and hip circumference and RCC risk among 348,550 men and women free of cancer at baseline from 8 countries of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). During 6.0 years of follow‐up we identified 287 incident cases of RCC. Relative risks were calculated using Cox regression, stratified by age and study center and adjusted for smoking status, education, alcohol consumption, physical activity, menopausal status, and hormone replacement therapy use. Among women, an increased risk of RCC was conferred by body weight (relative risk [RR] in highest vs. lowest quintile = 2.13; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16–3.90; p‐trend = 0.003), body mass index (BMI) (RR = 2.25; 95% CI = 1.14–4.44; p‐trend = 0.009), and waist (RR = 1.67; 95% CI = 0.94–2.98; p‐trend = 0.003) and hip circumference (RR = 2.30; 95% CI = 1.22–4.34; p‐trend = 0.01); however, waist and hip circumference were no longer significant after controlling for body weight. Among men, hip circumference (RR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.20–0.98; p‐trend = 0.03) was related significantly to decreased RCC risk only after accounting for body weight. Height was not related significantly to RCC risk. Our findings suggest that obesity is related to increased risk of RCC irrespective of fat distribution among women, whereas low hip circumference is related to increased RCC risk among men. Our data give further credence to public health efforts aiming to reduce the prevalence of obesity to prevent RCC, in addition to other chronic diseases. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.