HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2005.084178v1 97/5/913    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dolan, C. M. Articles by Kelsey, J. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dolan, C. M. Articles by Kelsey, J. L. Related Collections Aging Obesity, Overweight, Underweight Mortality Women's Health

Chantal Matkin Dolan, PhD, MPH, Helena Kraemer, PhD, Warren Browner, MD, MPH, Kristine Ensrud, MD, MPH and Jennifer L. Kelsey, PhD

At the time of the study, Chantal Matkin Dolan and Jennifer L. Kelsey were with the Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif. Helena Kraemer was with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto. Warren Browner is with the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, San Francisco, and the University of California, San Francisco. Kristine Ensrud is with the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Chantal Matkin Dolan, PhD, MPH, PO Box 448, Palo Alto, CA 94302 (e-mail: matkin{at}comcast.net).

Objectives. We examined the relation between measures of body size and mortality in a predominantly White cohort of 8029 women aged 65 years and older who were participating in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.

Methods. Body composition measures (fat and lean mass and percentage body fat) were calculated by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Anthropometric measures were body mass index (BMI; kg/m²) and waist circumference.

Results. During 8 years of follow-up, there were 945 deaths. Mortality was lowest among women in the middle of the distribution of each body size measure. For BMI, the lowest mortality rates were in the range 24.6 to 29.8 kg/m². The U-shaped relations were seen throughout the age ranges included in this study and were not attributable to smoking or measures of preexisting illness. Body composition measures were not better predictors of mortality than BMI or waist girth.

Conclusions. Our results do not support applying the National Institutes of Health categorization of BMI from 25 to 29.9 kg/m² as overweight in older women, because women with BMIs in this range had the lowest mortality.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Koster, M. F. Leitzmann, A. Schatzkin, T. Mouw, K. F. Adams, J. Th. M. van Eijk, A. R. Hollenbeck, and T. B. Harris Waist Circumference and Mortality Am. J. Epidemiol., June 15, 2008; 167(12): 1465 - 1475. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Dakeishi, K. Murata, M. Sasaki, A. Tamura, and T. Iwata Association of alcohol dehydrogenase 2 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 genotypes with fasting plasma glucose levels in Japanese male and female workers Alcohol Alcohol., March 1, 2008; 43(2): 143 - 147. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				X. Sui, M. J. LaMonte, J. N. Laditka, J. W. Hardin, N. Chase, S. P. Hooker, and S. N. Blair Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Adiposity as Mortality Predictors in Older Adults JAMA, December 5, 2007; 298(21): 2507 - 2516. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Additional articles abstracted in ACP Journal Club Evid. Based Med., October 1, 2007; 12(5): 158 - 158. [Full Text] [PDF]