Key Publications
May 2, 2011
Body-mass index and mortality among 1.46 million white adults.
N Engl J Med 2010;363:2211-9
Berrington de Gonzalez A, Hartge P, Cerhan JR, Flint AJ, Hannan L, MacInnis RJ, Moore SC, Tobias GS, Anton-Culver H, Freeman LB, Beeson WL, Clipp SL, English DR, Folsom AR, Freedman DM, Giles G, Hakansson N, Henderson KD, Hoffman-Bolton J, Hoppin JA, Koenig KL, Lee IM, Linet MS, Park Y, Pocobelli G, Schatzkin A, Sesso HD, Weiderpass E, Willcox BJ, Wolk A, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Willett WC, Thun MJ
Description
The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and all-cause mortality in a pooled analysis of 19 prospective studies, which included 1.46 million white (non-Hispanic) adults, 19 to 84 years of age (median 58 years) and a median baseline BMI of 26.2 kg/m2. During a median follow-up period of 10 years, 160,087 deaths were identified. Results showed that the lowest all-cause mortality was generally observed in the BMI range of 20.0 to 24.9 kg/m2. Among healthy persons who never smoked, the estimated hazard ratio per 5-unit increase in BMI was 1.31 (95% CI: 1.29-1.33) for the BMI range of 25.0 to 49.9 kg/m2. Thus, these results suggest that overweight and obesity in white adults are associated with increased all-cause mortality and there is also a possibility that being underweight is also associated with increased mortality.
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