BMI Not The Only Predictor Of Death

Originally Published November 14, 2008; Last Updated March 14, 2017; Last Republished March 14, 2017:

Researchers conclude that the ratio of waist-to-hip circumferences, in addition to Body Mass Index (BMI), is a risk-predictor of death:

"These data suggest that both general adiposity and abdominal adiposity are associated with the risk of death and support the use of waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio in addition to BMI in assessing the risk of death."--N Engl J Med 359;20 November 13, 2008--

1 centimeter = 0.3937007874 inch (Online Conversions)

So if your male waist is 42 inches (approx 106 cm) you have 50% greater risk than a male waist of 37 inches (approx 95 cm)—if your female your risk doubles!

 

Res:

UPDATED 03/14/2017 RAND Op-Ed, Five Myths About American Obesity
UPDATED 01/17/2017 PlosMedicine, Association of Body Mass Index with DNA Methylation and Gene Expression in Blood Cells and Relations to Cardiometabolic Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Approach

UPDATED 12/22/2016 Nature, Epigenome-wide association study of body mass index, and the adverse outcomes of adiposity UPDATED 08/02/2016 JAMA, Risks of Myocardial Infarction, Death, and Diabetes in Identical Twin Pairs With Different Body Mass Indexes (subscription required)

Conclusions and Relevance:  "In MZ twin pairs, higher BMI was not associated with an increased risk of MI [myocardial infarction or heart attack] or death but was associated with the onset of diabetes. These results may suggest that lifestyle interventions to reduce obesity are more effective in decreasing the risk of diabetes than the risk of cardiovascular disease or death."

UPDATED 07/29/2016 NAP, The Interplay Between Environmental Chemical Exposures and Obesity: Proceedings of a Workshop (2016) Chapter: 1 Introduction      
UPDATED 08/14/2013 IOM, Table - Measuring Progress in Obesity Prevention: Indicators and Data Sources
UPDATED 08/03/2010 CDC Vital Signs, Adult Obesity. UPDATED 09/01/2009 CDC, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. Do we really need a division of "Physical Activity"?

UPDATED 04/07/2009 Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med., Prevalence of Obesity Among US Preschool Children in Different Racial and Ethnic Groups. Eighteen percent of our four-year-old children are chubby enough to be classified as obese?

"Racial/ethnic disparities in obesity are apparent in 4-year-old US children. The highest prevalence is in American Indian/Native Alaskan children, in whom obesity is twice as common as in non-Hispanic white or Asian children."--Abstract--

Obesity Among US Urban Preschool Children. Another, earlier study by Whitaker on our chubby children:

"In a sample of preschool children drawn from 20 large US cities, the high prevalence of obesity among Hispanics relative to blacks or whites was not explained by racial/ethnic differences in maternal education, household income, or food security."--Abstract, 2006--

UPDATED 12/19/2008 CDC, Healthy Weight: It''s Not a Diet, It''s a lifestyle, BMI Calculator

Web:

UPDATED 08/23/2013 ScienceDaily, BMI Not Accurate Enough: Obesity/Mortality Paradox Demonstrates Urgent Need for More Refined Metabolic Measures
UPDATED 12/26/2012 JAMA, Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Autopsy-Determined Atherosclerosis Among US Service Members, 2001-2011

"The prevalence of autopsy-determined coronary atherosclerosis among US service members was 8.5% in our study population. Older age; lower educational level; higher BMI at military entrance; and prior diagnoses of dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity were associated with a higher prevalence of atherosclerosis."

Collection of these types of data indirectly point to the potentially significant benefits of systematic and routine autopsies performed by competent, certified and medically trained coroners across all our states and counties (autopsies performed by funeral directors, politicos or farmers etc. are useless).

UPDATED 07/08/2012 ScienceDaily, Above-Normal Weight Alone Does Not Necessarily Increase Short-Term Risk of Death, U.S. Data Suggest
UPDATED 06/20/2012  Nature, Obesity: Insensitive issue
UPDATED 05/09/2012 IOM, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation 
UPDATED 08/03/2010 NYT, Obesity Rates Keep Rising, Troubling Health Officials and UPI, CDC: 9 states have 30 percent obese.
UPDATED 01/30/2010 UPI, Overweight elderly less likely to die.
UPDATED 04/27/2009 Reuters, FEATURE-Obesity becoming U.S civil rights issue for some.
UPDATED 04/27/2009 BBC, Fatty foods ''offer memory boost''. Before refrigerators, (aka fridge and icebox) it wasn't so easy to remember where to find the food—now, for much of the world, it's not so easy to remember what food is in the fridge!
UPDATED 04/08/2009 NPR, Fat Could Help You Lose Weight — Someday.

Finally something good to say about fat—scarce brown fat—not the yellow (aka white) fat we have in abundance. Time, Brown Fat: A Fat That Helps You Lose Weight? and Science Daily, ''Good'' Energy Burning Fat In Lean Adults

UPDATED 04/07/2009 Reuters, Obesity may raise risk of restless legs syndrome
UPDATED 03/18/2009 BBC, Obesity danger ''rivals smoking'' and Easy To Read BMI Chart
UPDATED 12/22/2008 AHA Circulation, Body Mass Index and Vigorous Physical Activity and the Risk of Heart Failure Among Men

UPDATED 12/15/2008 BBC, Obesity ''controlled by the brain' and General and Abdominal Adiposity and Risk of Death in Europe (.5M pdf)

UPDATED 12/04/2008 Newsweek, Hourglass Figures: We Take It All Back

Researchers conclude that the ratio of waist-to-hip circumferences, in addition to Body Mass Index (BMI), is a risk-predictor of death.