Obesity Has Long-Term Cardiovascular Effects

High BMI in late adolescence is associated with increases in cardiovascular deaths in adulthood.

Investigators from Israel used military induction and hospital records to evaluate the effect of body-mass index (BMI) in adolescence on later death from cardiovascular causes. BMI data were collected from 2.3 million Israeli adolescents (mean age, 17) from 1967 to 2010, and were categorized according to age- and sex-specific percentiles from U.S. CDC schedules. Follow-up continued through mid-2011.

Of 32,127 deaths at follow-up, 2918 (9.1%) had cardiovascular causes (coronary heart disease, 1497; sudden death, 893; stroke, 528). In multivariate analysis controlling for age, birth year, sex, sociodemographics, and height, both cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality were associated with increasing BMI. Mortality began to increase wi…

Reviewing Author

Karol E. Watson, MD, PhD, FACC

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBoehringer Ingelheim; Amgen; Novartis; Lilly; Amarin

Speaker’s BureauBoehringer Ingelheim

Grant/Research SupportNIH

Editorial BoardsCirculation (Associate Editor)