Body mass index and mortality in a nationally representative cohort of south African adults

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Aim: To examine the association between Body Mass Index (BMI) and all-cause mortality in South Africa. Methods: Longitudinal data on adults 20 years and older from five waves (2008, 2010-11, 2012, 2014-15, and 2017) of the South African National Income Dynamics Study were analysed. Survival proportional hazard models, adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, were used to estimate the relationship between BMI and mortality. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the estimates. Results: category. The pattern was repeated in the sex-specific analyses. The relationship persisted after restricting the analyses to never smokers, excluding subjects with pre-existing conditions or who died in the first two years of follow-up. Conclusions: This study suggests that, in the South African adult population, BMI in the overweight or mild obesity range according to international definitions is associated with a reduced risk of mortality compared to the" healthy weight" range. Further research is needed to corroborate these results.