The relationships between BMI and mortality has been well studied in Western populations and remains controversial. Little is known about the association of BMI-mortality in underdeveloping countries.
The goal of this cohort study is to investigate the association between BMI and Mortality. The study was based on analysing and assembling of 'Kangwha Cohort Study', which had been conducted from March 1985 by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University. A cohort study was carried out to investigate the relationship between BMI and Mortality. A total of 2,724 males and 3,650 females were followed almost for eleven years from March 1985 to January 1996. The total death of 2,897 were occurred during this period. The Cox's proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze this data.
We found U-shaped relations between BMI and mortality among men and women. Compare BMI 21.0-<23.5 with adjustment acomplished for age, marriage, cognition of health status and smoking history, the relative risk was 1.61(1.37-1.90) for men with BMI <18.5, 1.30(1.14-1.47) for men with BMI 18.5-<21, 1.03(0.87-1.21) for men with BMI 23.5-<26, and 1.33(1.07-1.65) for men with BMI >=26. After adjustment for the group of women for age, marriage, occupation, chronic disease history, drink frequency and smoking history, the relative risk showed 1.23(1.03-1.46) for women with BMI <18.5, and 1.11(0.96-1.28) for women with BMI 18.5-<21, 1.05(0.89-1.23) for women with BMI 23.5-<26, and 1.13(0.94-1.35) for women with BMI >=26.
The risk of death in middle-aged in Kangwha showed increased in the groups of people who are under and overweighted.