title: Body-mass index and mortality in Korean men and women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity is associated with diverse health risks, but the role of body weight as a risk factor for death remains controversial.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined the association between body weight and the risk of death in a 12-year prospective cohort study of 1,213,829 Koreans between the ages of 30 and 95 years. We examined 82,372 deaths from any cause and 48,731 deaths from specific diseases (including 29,123 from cancer, 16,426 from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and 3362 from respiratory disease) in relation to the body-mass index (BMI) (the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both sexes, the average baseline BMI was 23.2, and the rate of death from any cause had a J-shaped association with the BMI, regardless of cigarette-smoking history. The risk of death from any cause was lowest among patients with a BMI of 23.0 to 24.9. In all groups, the risk of death from respiratory causes was higher among subjects with a lower BMI, and the risk of death from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or cancer was higher among subjects with a higher BMI. The relative risk of death associated with BMI declined with increasing age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Underweight, overweight, and obese men and women had higher rates of death than men and women of normal weight. The association of BMI with death varied according to the cause of death and was modified by age, sex, and smoking history.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. jsunha@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr
authors.forename: Sun Ha
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jee
authors.forename: Jae Woong
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Sull
authors.forename: Jungyong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sang-Yi
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Heechoul
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohrr
authors.forename: Eliseo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guallar
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Samet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002423:Cause of Death; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000401:mortality*; D050177:Overweight; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D013851:Thinness / Q000401:mortality