title: The importance of waist circumference and BMI for mortality risk in diabetic adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to determine the associations of waist circumference (WC) and BMI with all-cause mortality among patients with diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 847 white and 553 African American patients (18-69 years of age) with diabetes. Height, weight, and WC were measured, and the BMI (kg/m2) was calculated. Cox regression was used to analyze the associations of BMI and WC with mortality, adjusting for age, sex, race, examination year, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. Hazard ratios (HRs) are expressed per standard deviation of each independent variable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 86 deaths occurred during 6.7 years of follow-up. After adjustment for covariates, WC (HR 1.40 [95% CI 1.14-1.72]) and BMI (1.29 [1.04-1.61]) demonstrated significant relationships with mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that maintaining a healthy WC and BMI are both important for individuals living with diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Corresponding author: Peter T. Katzmarzyk, peter.katzmarzyk@pbrc.edu.
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Katzmarzyk
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: William T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Cefalu
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mire
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bouchard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002423:Cause of Death; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D055105:Waist Circumference / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult