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Background/objectives: Approximately 17% of obese Americans are free of the cardiometabolic risk factors, but few studies have compared responses to weight change in metabolically healthy obese (MHO) and metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW) adults. We compared the impact of weight loss, weight maintenance and weight gain on cardiometabolic risk factors in the MHO and the MHNW., Subjects/methods: Data were from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Multiple observations on 2710 participants were included, yielding 4541 observations of sequential 3-year intervals. Metabolically healthy was defined as absence of all components of metabolic syndrome excluding waist circumference. Mixed effects models were used to compare changes in each of five cardiometabolic risk factors within weight change categories (<-3% for weight loss, ±3% for weight maintenance and >3% for weight gain)., Results: Weight loss was associated with comparable small changes or no changes in cardiometabolic risk factors in MHO and MHNW individuals. Weight gain was associated with larger increases in systolic (8.6 vs 6.2 mm Hg) and diastolic (3.9 vs 2.5 mm Hg) blood pressure, triglycerides (21.9 vs 15.8 mg/dl) and glucose (4.9 vs 1.9 mg/dl) in MHO individuals compared with MHNW individuals. Weight maintenance was associated with larger increases in triglycerides (10.0 vs 6.4 mg/dl) and glucose (1.7 vs 0.9 mg/dl) in MHO compared with MHNW individuals. MHO weight losers had more favorable changes in the five cardiometabolic risk factors compared to MHO weight maintainers (P<0.02) or gainers (P<0.0001)., Conclusions: This work showed differences between MHNW and MHO adults and supports recommendations for weight loss in the MHO in order to avoid increases in risk factors associated with weight maintenance and weight gain.

Background: Lower ethnic-specific body mass index (BMI) cutpoints have been proposed for Asians and adapted in some countries. However, to our knowledge, no study has directly compared Asians to other ethnic groups to test differences in associations between BMI and all-cause mortality using common methods., Objectives: We estimated the association between BMI and all-cause mortality in Chinese Asians and Caucasian Americans to determine if lower Asian-specific BMI cutpoints are warranted., Methods: Extant data of the People's Republic of China Study (1983-1997) including 5546 Chinese and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (1987-2002) including 9932 Caucasians aged 45-64 years at baseline were used. All analyses were performed using Cox proportional regression models., Results: Standardized mortality rates were 6.88 (95% confidence interval (CI): 5.75-8.24) and 5.50 (95% CI: 4.74-6.39) per 1000 person-years for Chinese and Caucasians, respectively. Standardized mortality probabilities by age 70 were similar across all BMI categories among Chinese. Furthermore, the probabilities were similar to those among Caucasians with BMI of 27.5-<32.5 kg/m2. The BMI associated with lowest mortality risk was almost identical between Chinese (25.1 kg/m2) and Caucasians (25.2 kg/m2). The analysis of categorical BMI did not reveal an increased mortality risk at any BMI category among Chinese. In contrast, compared to those with a BMI of 23.0-<25.0 kg/m2, risk was elevated by 35% among Caucasians with a BMI of 30.0-<32.5 kg/m2., Conclusions: These findings do not support different BMI cutpoints for Chinese than Caucasians on the basis of mortality rates.

Purpose: Approximately 20% of young adults in the United States are obese, and most of them gain weight between young and middle adulthood. Few studies have examined the association between elevated body mass index (BMI) in early adulthood and mortality or have examined that such effects are independent of changes in weight. To our knowledge, no such study has been conducted in African-American samples., Methods: We used data from 13,941 African-American and white adults who self-reported their weight at the age of 25, and had weight and height measured when they were 45-64 years of age (1987-1989). Date of death was ascertained between 1987 and 2005. Hazard ratios and hazard differences for the effects of BMI at age 25 on all-cause mortality were determined using Cox proportional hazard and additive hazard models, respectively., Results: In the combined ethnic-gender groups, the hazard ratio associated with a 5 kg/m(2) increase in BMI at age 25 was 1.28 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-1.35), and the hazard difference was 2.75 (2.01-3.50) deaths/1,000 person-years. Associations were observed in all four ethnic-gender groups. Models including weight change from age 25 to age in 1987-1989 resulted in null estimates for BMI in African-American men, whereas associations were maintained or only mildly attenuated in other ethnic-gender groups., Conclusions: Excess weight during young adulthood should be avoided because it contributes to increases in death rates that may be independent of changes in weight experienced in later life. Further study is needed to better understand these associations in African-American men., (Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Several researchers have reported that Chinese adults may have a greater chronic disease burden than Whites, especially at lower body mass index (BMI) levels., Objectives: To compare the incidence of lipid abnormalities in Chinese (n=5303), White (n=10,752) and Black (n=3408) middle-aged adults and the effect of BMI on these incidences., Methods: Data were from the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) studies. In each ethnic group, we calculated the adjusted cumulative incidence for high total cholesterol (≥240mg/dL), LDL-cholesterol (≥160mg/dL), and triglycerides (≥200mg/dL) and low HDL-cholesterol (≤40 in men and ≤50mg/dL in women) adjusted for age, gender, education, field site, smoking and drinking status. Risk differences associated with BMI (referent=18.5-22.9kg/m(2)) were calculated using weighted linear regression and slopes compared using the Wald test., Results: Chinese had lower incidence of abnormal total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides than Whites in most BMI groups and had lower incidence of abnormal HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides than Blacks. Across the range of 18.5 to <30, BMI was more strongly associated with the incidence of having high total cholesterol in Chinese and Whites than in Blacks. Similar trends were seen for LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, but were not always statistically significant. In contrast, BMI was more highly associated with incidence of low HDL-cholesterol in Whites than in Chinese or Blacks., Conclusion: Although differences in the incidence of lipid abnormalities and the impact of BMI were identified, results varied by lipid type indicating no consistent ethnic/national pattern., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to determine whether vital exhaustion (VE) was associated with BMI cross-sectionally and after 3 and 6 years of follow-up. Extant data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study were used to examine the relationship between VE and BMI among 13,727 white and African-American adults cross-sectionally (baseline) and longitudinally (3 and 6 years later). We used adjusted and nonadjusted general linear regression models. Associations with excess weight gain (>or=5.0%) were also examined using logistic regression. Results showed that BMI was significantly higher among both white and African-American men and women in the highest VE quartile compared to those with no VE. Similarly, high VE at baseline was associated with higher BMI 3 and 6 years later, although VE was not able to predict future BMI after adjusting for baseline BMI. Baseline VE predicted future excess weight gain in white men and women, but not in African Americans. These results suggest that reducing VE levels may play an important role in reducing the prevalence of obesity. High VE was associated with higher current BMI (all races) and excess weight gain (whites only). Although high VE predicted future weight gain without baseline BMI adjustment, the magnitude of change in BMI over time was similar among those with low and high VE; suggesting that any relationship between VE and BMI was already established at baseline. Assessment of VE and BMI over time would help to elucidate uncertainties between the temporal nature of the relationship between them.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of weight history on blood pressure. Extant data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study were used to compare blood pressure in women (n=5,675) and men (n=4,893) with different 3-year weight histories, but similar current BMI. We used mixed models regression adjusted for ethnicity, age, education, field center, smoking, alcohol consumption, antihypertensive medications, interval length, and BMI at follow-up. We also examined associations between 3-year weight history and blood pressure within weight status categories (normal weight (>or=18.5 to <25.0 kg/m2), overweight (>or=25.0 to <30.0 kg/m2), and obese (>or=30.0 kg/m2)). We found weight history affected both systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Compared to men at the same BMI who had maintained their weight, men who had experienced a 10% weight gain over the previous 3 years had systolic and diastolic blood pressures that were 2.6 and 1.9 mm Hg higher, respectively (P<0.001 for both). Associations in women were in the same direction, but smaller at 0.9 and 0.6 mm Hg (P<0.001). With the exception of diastolic blood pressure in normal weight women, we found no significant interactions between weight change and current weight status. In conclusion, some of the variation in blood pressure among individuals at the same BMI may be due to weight change history. Effects of 3-year weight change history appear to be stronger and more consistent in men than in women, and generally similar regardless of current weight status.

Few studies have focused on the impact of weight maintenance on cardiovascular disease risk factors or addressed whether changes differ by baseline weight status and medication usage. The authors examined these issues using 9 years of follow-up data on 3,235 men and women from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study who were aged 45-64 years at baseline (1987-1989). In participants not using medications, glucose (3.0 mg/dl, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.4, 3.5) and triglycerides (10.1 mg/dl, 95% CI: 8.3, 11.9) increased, while total cholesterol (-9.6 mg/dl, 95% CI: -10.6, -8.6), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (-9.9 mg/dl, 95% CI: -10.9, -9.0), and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (-1.7 mg/dl, 95% CI: -2.1, -1.3) decreased. Systolic blood pressure (7.9 mmHg, 95% CI: 7.3, 8.4) increased, but diastolic blood pressure (-1.1 mmHg, 95% CI: -1.4, -0.7) declined. Normal weight (body mass index: 18.5-<25.0 kg/m(2)) participants had smaller increases in glucose compared with obese (body mass index: >/=30.0 kg/m(2)) participants. In contrast, the authors found less favorable changes in total, low density lipoprotein, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and diastolic blood pressure among normal weight compared with obese participants who maintained their weight. These patterns were similar across weight status groups regardless of medication usage.