Impact of body mass index and metabolically unhealthy status on mortality in the Japanese general population: The JMS cohort study

This study aimed to investigate the associations of body mass index (BMI) and metabolically unhealthy weight with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and cancer mortality as well as the effect of age on the associations. This prospective study enrolled Japanese individuals in the general population. Participants were divided into eight phenotypes according to the BMI classification and metabolic status. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a Cox regression hazard model. In total, 10,824 individuals with a mean age of 55.3 years were evaluated. During a mean follow-up of 18.4 years (198,776 person-years), 2,274 participants died. Among the metabolically unhealthy, the association between BMI and mortality was J-shaped after adjustment for various confounders (multivariable HR [95% CI] for all-cause mortality: underweight, 2.0 [1.5–2.7]; obesity 2.8 [2.1–3.6]). The association remained the same in metabolically unhealthy participants aged