Anthropometric Measures and Mortality in Singapore

Abstract

Our goal was to examine anthropometric measures of adiposity as predictors of all-cause and CVD mortality. Subjects included 2091 men and 2227 women. The associations between BMI, WC, WHR and all-cause mortality in men were U-shaped and persisted for BMI after adjusting central obesity indicators. A U-shaped association was also found between WC and CVD mortality in men. However, a linear association between WHR and CVD mortality was found in women after adjustment for BMI. WR was marginally associated with all-cause mortality in women independently of BMI. In this cohort general adiposity appears to be a significant predictor of all-cause mortality in men, more so than central adiposity. Although measures of central adiposity were better predictors of CVD mortality in both men and women as compared with measures of general adiposity, there was a difference in that the association was U-shaped for men and linear for women.