title: Weight trends in United States living kidney donors: Analysis of the UNOS database.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the national trends associated with body mass index (BMI) and living kidney donation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven thousand seven hundred and five adult living kidney donors as reported to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network from 1999 to 2011 were analyzed using their pre-donation BMI. Predictor variables of interest included age, gender, ethnicity, relationship, education status, and transplant region.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen thousand nine hundred and seventy-one of the living kidney donors were normal weight (35.6%); 19337 were overweight (40.5%); 9007 were mildly obese (18.9%); 1992 were moderate to morbidly obese (4.2%). Overweight and mildly obese kidney donors have increased through time by 12% and 20% every 5 years, respectively (P < 0.05). Donors 35-49 years of age, hispanic males or females and black females, those with high school diploma or general Education Degree, and biologically related or partner/spouses were more likely to be obese.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over the past 13 years, the majority of living kidney donors have spanned the overweight to obese categories. Paralleling the national rise is an increase in overweight and mildly obese kidney donors. A fair number of moderate to morbidly obese living kidney donors are still allowed to donate.
authors.affiliation: Mala Sachdeva, Jeny Varghese, Steven Fishbane, Department of Medicine, Division of Kidney Diseases and Hypertension, North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Great Neck, NY 11021, United States.
authors.forename: Mala
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sachdeva
authors.affiliation: Mala Sachdeva, Jeny Varghese, Steven Fishbane, Department of Medicine, Division of Kidney Diseases and Hypertension, North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Great Neck, NY 11021, United States.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: Mala Sachdeva, Jeny Varghese, Steven Fishbane, Department of Medicine, Division of Kidney Diseases and Hypertension, North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Great Neck, NY 11021, United States.
authors.forename: Jeny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Varghese
authors.affiliation: Mala Sachdeva, Jeny Varghese, Steven Fishbane, Department of Medicine, Division of Kidney Diseases and Hypertension, North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Great Neck, NY 11021, United States.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fishbane
authors.affiliation: Mala Sachdeva, Jeny Varghese, Steven Fishbane, Department of Medicine, Division of Kidney Diseases and Hypertension, North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Great Neck, NY 11021, United States.
authors.forename: Ernesto P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Molmenti
keywords: Donor; Kidney; Living; Obesity; Transplantation