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Obesity or obesities? Controversies on the association between body mass index and premature mortality

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Abstract

Obesity is still defined on the basis of body mass index (BMI) and BMI in itself is generally accepted as a strong predictor of overall early mortality. However, an inverse association between BMI and mortality has been reported in patients with many disease states and in several clinical settings: hemodialysis, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, surgery, etc. This unexpected phenomenon is usually called obesity-survival paradox (OP). The contiguous concepts of metabolically healthy obesity (MHO, a phenotype having BMI ≥ 30 but not having any metabolic syndrome component and having a homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, HOMA, <2.5) and metabolically obese normal weight (MONW, normal-weight individuals displaying obesity-related phenotypic characteristics) have received a great deal of attention in recent years. The interactions that link MHO, MONW and OP with body composition, fat distribution, aging and cardiorespiratory fitness are other crucial areas of research. The article is an introductory narrative overview of the origin and current use of the concepts of MHO, MONW and OP. These phenomena are very controversial and appear as a consequence of the frail current diagnostic definition of obesity based only on BMI. A new commonly established characterization and classification of obesities based on a number of variables is needed urgently.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Medicine, Gerontology Unit, University of Verona, 37126, Verona, Italy

      Ottavio Bosello

    2. Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of Verona, 37126, Verona, Italy

      Maria Pia Donataccio

    3. Formerly Experimental Medicine Department, Medical Pathophysiology Section, Sapienza University of Rome, 57021, Campiglia Marittima, LI, Italy

      Massimo Cuzzolaro

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    Bosello, O., Donataccio, M.P. & Cuzzolaro, M. Obesity or obesities? Controversies on the association between body mass index and premature mortality. Eat Weight Disord 21, 165–174 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0278-4

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