Healthy Lifestyle Habits and Mortality in Overweight and Obese Individuals

Eric M. Matheson; Dana E. King; Charles J. Everett

doi:10.3122/jabfm.2012.01.110164

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Figure 1.
Hazard ratio for all-cause mortality by body mass index (kg/m2) and number of healthy habits (ie, fruits and vegetable intake, tobacco, exercise, alcohol). Data from Table 3.

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Table 1.

Demographic Characteristics of Study Sample Obtained from NHANES III Survey*

	Body Mass Index
	18.5–24.9	25–29.9	≥30	Total
Age (years)
21–44	65.9	53.8	53.2	59.0
45–64	21.4	29.7	33.0	26.7
≥65	12.7	16.4	13.8	14.2
Race
Non-Hispanic white	83.6	79.4	75.4	80.3
Non-Hispanic black	8.7	9.9	13.7	10.2
Hispanic	7.7	10.7	10.9	9.4
Sex
Female	56.4	40.5	58.2	51.4
Male	43.6	59.5	41.8	48.6
Education level
Less than high school	19.6	23.4	25.6	22.2
High school	33.1	34.5	38.7	34.8
Some college	35.9	32.1	29.4	33.2
College or greater	11.5	9.9	6.3	9.8
Marital status
Married or partner	63.9	71.7	70.0	67.9
Living alone	36.1	28.3	30.1	32.1
Exercise frequency
None	11.5	12.4	16.2	12.8
1–12 times per month	30.0	31.4	36.5	31.9
>12 times per month	46.6	34.6	18.8	55.3
Smoking status
Current nonsmoker	65.9	71.7	75.7	70.0
Current smoker	34.1	28.3	24.3	30.0
Fruit/vegetables
<5 servings/day	61.7	58.6	64.5	61.3
≥5 servings/day	38.3	41.4	35.5	38.7
Alcohol consumption
None	36.8	42.3	53.4	42.3
Moderate	52.2	48.9	39.3	48.2
Exceeds moderate	11.0	8.8	7.3	11.0
Healthy habits (%)
None	2.8	1.6	1.5	2.0
1	13.8	11.7	12.0	12.7
2	31.0	30.8	36.7	32.2
3	33.5	36.5	33.6	34.6
4	18.9	19.4	16.2	18.5

↵* Sample size = 11,761 unweighted (133,700,723 weighted).

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Table 2.
Cox Proportional Hazards Models for Risk of All-Cause Mortality for All Individuals Ages 21 and Older by Adherence to 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 Healthy Habits* Sample size = 11,761 unweighted (133,700,723 weighted)
Number of Healthy Habits Hazard Ratio 95% Confidence Interval
0 3.27 2.36–4.54
1 2.59 2.06–3.25
2 1.74 1.51–2.02
3 1.29 1.09–1.53
4 1.00 —

↵* Adjusted for age, sex, race, education, and marital status. Healthy habits include consumption of ≥5 fruits or vegetable/day, regular exercise >12 times/month, moderate alcohol consumption (up to 1 drink/day for women, up to 2/day for men), and not smoking.

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Table 3.

Cox Proportional Hazards Models for Risk of All-Cause Mortality for All Adults Ages 21 and Older by Adherence to 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 Healthy Habits Stratified by Body Mass Index*

Number of Healthy Habits	Hazard Ratio	95% Confidence Interval
BMI ≥18.5 to <25
0	2.18	1.25–3.81
1	2.70	1.90–3.83
2	2.11	1.57–2.83
3	1.39	1.07–1.82
4	Reference group	—
BMI ≥25 to <30
0	3.72	1.53–9.07
1	2.45	1.65–3.67
2	1.63	1.29–2.05
3	1.16	0.89–1.52
4	1.08	0.81–1.46
BMI ≥30
0	6.69	3.67–12.2
1	3.26	2.03–5.24
2	1.76	1.34–2.30
3	1.65	1.12–2.42
4	1.05	0.66–1.67

↵* Sample size = 11,761 unweighted (133,700,723 weighted). Adjusted for age, sex, race, education, and marital status. Healthy habits include consumption of ≥5 fruits or vegetable/day, regular exercise >12 times/month, moderate alcohol consumption (up to 1 drink/day for women, up to 2/day for men), and not smoking.
BMI, body mass index.

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Table 4.

Cox Proportional Hazards Models for the Risk of All-Cause Mortality by Individual Habits for All Adults Ages 21 and Older Stratified by Body Mass Index*

Individual Healthy Habit	Body Mass Index
Individual Healthy Habit	18.5–24.9	25–29.9	≥30
Current smoker
Yes	1.69 (1.36–2.10)	1.95 (1.50–2.55)	1.92 (1.38–2.69)
No	1.00	1.00	1.00
Fruit/vegetable servings per day
<5	1.00	1.00	1.00
≥5	0.75 (0.61–0.93)	0.83 (0.70–0.98)	0.93 (0.67–1.30)
None	1.00	1.00	1.00
Regular exercise (times per month)
1–12	0.57 (0.45–0.72)	0.92 (0.71–1.20)	0.70 (0.52–0.94)
>12	0.59 (0.45–0.78)	0.81 (0.64–1.02)	0.67 (0.47–0.95)
None	1.00	1.00	1.00
Alcohol consumption
Moderate	0.78 (0.63–0.96)	0.85 (0.67–1.08)	0.83 (0.58–1.18)
Exceeds moderate	0.92 (0.65–1.30)	0.99 (0.69–1.43)	1.75 (1.12–2.74)

Values provided as hazard ratio (95% CI).
↵* Sample size = 11,761 unweighted (133,700,723 weighted). Adjusted for age, sex, race, education, marital status, and the other healthy habits.