Does Obesity Associate with Mortality among Hispanic Persons?: Results from the National Health Interview Survey

To evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI: kg/m(2)) and mortality among Hispanic adults, we acquired 8 years (1997–2004) of National Health Interview Survey data linked to public-use mortality follow-up data through 2006. Using Cox proportional hazards regression, we fit separate models for two attained age strata (18 to <60 years, ≥60 years) adjusting for sex, smoking, and physical activity with over 38,000 analyzable respondents. We found that, among those aged ≥60 years, underweight (BMI ≤ 18.5) associated with elevated mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38–3.46) while overweight (BMI of 25 to <30) and obesity grade 1 (BMI of 30 to <35) associated with reduced mortality (HR’s = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.65–0.95 and 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56–0.91), respectively. There were no significant associations between BMI and mortality among the 18 to <60 years attained age strata or among never smokers for either age strata. Overweight and obesity are not obviously associated with elevated mortality among Hispanic adults.