Age, Body-Mass Index, and Mortality

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Abstract
Stevens et al. (Jan. 1 issue)1 present 12-year mortality in relation to body characteristics in a large cohort of Americans. The authors mention but do not discuss the implications of known errors of self-reporting of height and weight. Such errors are likely to be magnified when the questioner is not present. Of greater importance is the known error of the understating of body weight by heavier people.2 The groups with above-average body-mass indexes (calculated as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) in this study almost surely included some people with higher values, resulting in an overstated risk of mortality in these groups. In addition, the extent of such understating differs with age,2 further confusing the interpretation of these results.

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