title: Does obesity associate with mortality among Hispanic persons? Results from the National Health Interview Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the association between BMI: kg/m(2) and mortality among Hispanic adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight years (1997-2004) of National Health Interview Survey data linked to public-use mortality follow-up data through 2006 were acquired. Using Cox proportional hazards regression, separate models for two attained age strata (18 to <60 years, ≥60 years) adjusting for sex, smoking, and physical activity with over 38,000 analyzable respondents were fit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among those aged ≥60 years, underweight (BMI ≤ 18.5) associated with elevated mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38-3.46), whereas overweight (BMI of 25 to <30) and obesity grade 1 (BMI of 30 to <35) associated with reduced mortality (HRs = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.65-0.95 and 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56-0.91), respectively. There were no significant associations between BMI and mortality among the 18 to <60 years attained age strata or among never smokers for either age strata.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overweight and obesity are not obviously associated with elevated mortality among Hispanic adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Section on Statistical Genetics & Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA.
authors.forename: Tapan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McCubrey
authors.forename: Nicholas M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Pajewski
authors.forename: Scott W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Keith
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: Carlos J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Crespo
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Fontaine
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002423:Cause of Death; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009765:Obesity / Q000401:mortality*; D050177:Overweight / Q000401:mortality*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult