Body fat percentage, waist circumference both significantly associated with 15-year all-cause mortality, heart disease mortality<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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TUESDAY, July 1, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For young adults, body fat percentage is a better predictor of 15-year mortality risk than body mass index (BMI), according to a study published online June 24 in the Annals of Family Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Arch G. Mainous III, Ph.D., from the University of Florida in Gainesville, and colleagues examined BMI versus body fat percentage for 15-year mortality risk among adults aged 20 to 49 years in a nationally representative cohort of U.S. adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.<\/p>\n The researchers found that body fat percentage and waist circumference were significantly associated with 15-year, all-cause mortality (unadjusted hazard ratios, 2.01 and 1.94, respectively; adjusted hazard ratios, 1.78 and 1.59, respectively) and heart disease mortality (unadjusted hazard ratios, 4.20 and 4.75, respectively; adjusted hazard ratios, 3.62 and 4.01, respectively). No statistically significant association was seen for BMI with all-cause mortality. There was a significant association for BMI with heart disease mortality in the unadjusted model, but not in the adjusted model.<\/p>\n “The medical community has been aware that BMI has some limitations as a measure of body composition and disease risk. It is an indirect measure of body fat percentage,” coauthor Frank A. Orlando, M.D., from the University of Florida, said in a statement. “Direct measures have historically been too expensive and difficult to use in the office. Our study shows that a direct measure of body fat that can be done easily, practically and inexpensively in a doctor’s office solves the problems of BMI.”<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n