Scandinavian Journal of Public Health

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nyholm, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lindblad, U.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nyholm, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lindblad, U.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 33, No. 6, 478-486 (2005)
DOI: 10.1080/14034940510006102
© 2005 Associations of Public Health in the Nordic Countries Regions

Overweight and all-cause mortality in a Swedish rural population: Skaraborg Hypertension and Diabetes Project

Maria Nyholm

Department of Community Medicine, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden, Skaraborg Institute, Skövde, Sweden

Juan Merlo

Department of Community Medicine, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden

Lennart Råstam

Department of Community Medicine, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden

Ulf Lindblad

Department of Community Medicine, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden, ulf.lindblad{at}smi.mas.lu.se, Skaraborg Institute, Skövde, Sweden

Aims: To explore the prevalence of overweight in men and women in a Swedish rural community and to examine its associations with all-cause mortality. Methods: A community-based cohort study. A total of 1,109 men and women aged ≥40 years participated in a survey of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in the city of Skara in Skaraborg, Sweden, in 1993—94. Overweight was defined as a BMI≥25.0 kg m-2. Vital status was ascertained to 31 December 1999 and sex-specific associations between overweight and mortality were explored. Results: The prevalence of overweight according to the WHO's criteria exceeded 50% in men and 35% in women. In men there was an inverse association between BMI and mortality. Men in the lowest quartile of BMI experienced the highest mortality with 44.1 deaths per 1,000 person-years. The hazard ratio (HR) in the highest quartile was 0.6 (95% CI 0.4—0.9). In women there were no significant differences in mortality between quartiles of BMI. In both men and women with previous CVD the mortality rates decreased with quartiles of increasing BMI. The inverse association between BMI and mortality was confined to elderly men with a history of CVD. Conclusion: In both sexes the association between BMI and mortality differed across subgroups of age and of a history of previous CVD. No indication of overweight being negative for longevity was found in this population. Higher age and a history of previous CVD contribute to the excess mortality seen in subjects with low BMI.

Key Words: Abdominal obesity • physical activity • overweight • smoking • survival


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?