The prospective associations of body mass index (BMI) with overall and cause-specific mortality were quantified in collaborative analyses of 57 studies including 894,576 participants. Mortality was the lowest in BMI values ranging from 22.5 to 25 kg/m2 for both men and women. Above 25 kg/m2, each 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI was associated with about 30% higher overall mortality, 40% higher vascular mortality, 60% to 120% higher diabetic, renal and hepatic mortality and 20% higher respiratory disease mortality. In the range of 15 to 25 kg/m2, BMI was inversely related to overall mortality, liver disease, lung cancer, upper aerodigestive cancer and respiratory disease. The authors concluded that because BMI is an imperfect measure of intra-abdominal (visceral) fat and other harmful fat depots, the number of vascular and other deaths attributable to adiposity-related factors is probably underestimated.
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