X-Message-Number: 24546
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2004 05:19:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: BMI & survival over 70 years

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(Suppl):S137
Body mass index is not a significant predictor of survival amongst older
people.
  Introduction: As the population ages, more attention for emergent
problems of health and disease in the elderly is needed. The
International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) subcommittee on
Nutrition and Ageing, in conjunction with the World Health Organization
(WHO) global program for the elderly, embarked on the 'Food Habits in
Later Life' (FHILL): a cross-cultural study to test key hypotheses in
relation to food habits, health status and social variables in the
elderly in 1987. That obesity is associated with increased morbidity and
mortality requires specific consideration with advancing years. Objective:
To investigate whether the so-called a healthy BMI (a widely used and
simple tool to measure body fatness), between 20-25 kg/m2, predicts
7-year survival amongst elderly (aged 70 years and over) from long-lived
cultures namely Japanese in Japan, Swedes in Sweden, Anglo-Celtics in
Australia, and Greeks in Greece and Australia. Methods: Baseline data of
height and weight were used to calculate BMI from FHILL study
participants (n=785). BMI was classified as low (BMI<20), healthy (20< or
=BMI<25), overweight (25 <or=(BMI>or=30), and obesity (BMI(30). Healthy
BMI was used as a reference point. All cause mortality from up to seven
years follow-up was used as study endpoint. Each Cox Proportional Hazard
model was adjusted to age at enrolment (in 5-year intervals), gender,
smoking and general health status and was developed to analyse the
survival data. Results: Having a low BMI or being
underweight/undernutrition (RR 1.45: 95% CI 0.85-2.58), being overweight
(RR 1.16; 95% CI 0.75-1.78), or being obese (RR 0.97: 95% CI 0.55-1.74)
did not significantly reduce or increase mortality as opposed to being in
a healthy BMI group in the FHILL population. Conclusions: The FHILL study
shows that mortality advantage conferred by having healthy BMI was not
evident amongst elderly from longevity cultures. Body fatness, following
adjustment for age at enrolment, gender, smoking, and general health
status, was not found to be a significant predictor of 7-year survival.
Further research may provide better understanding of the relation between
optimal BMI and survival amongst older people.

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