Abdominal Obesity Is Associated with Early All-Cause Mortality

Higher body-mass index (BMI) is associated with earlier all-cause mortality, but BMI fails to distinguish between muscle mass and fat mass or between deleterious visceral and abdominal fat and protective gluteal and thigh fat. Central obesity is more difficult to measure but can add valuable information about mortality risk. Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 72 prospective cohort studies that each reported at least three measures of central adiposity and their association with all-cause mortality.

All measures of central adiposity (e.g., waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio) were associated positively and significantly with higher risk for early all-cause mortality. In many cases, associations were nonlinear (…