Underweight and mortality.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

According to most prospective studies, being underweight (BMI<18·5 kg/m2) is associated with significantly higher mortality than being of normal weight, especially among smokers. We aimed to explore in a generally lean population whether being underweight is significantly associated with increased all-cause mortality.

Design

Prospective cohort study.

Setting

Korea Medical Insurance Corporation study with 14 years of follow-up.

Subjects

After excluding deaths within the first 5 years of follow-up (1993-1997) to minimize reverse causation and excluding participants without information about smoking and health status, 94 133 men and 48 496 women aged 35-59 years in 1990 were included.

Results

We documented 5411 (5·7 %) deaths in men and 762 (1·6 %

SUBMITTER: Lee JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10271154 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature