TABLE 1—

Sample Size, Person-Months, and Deaths, Unweighted: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994

	Women			Men
Birth Cohort and BMI Statusa	No.	Person-Months	Deaths	No.	Person-Months	Deaths
Born in 1901–1930
Normal weight	904	112 824	564	895	93 052	684
Overweight	973	126 311	392	1105	130 720	750
Moderate obesity	480	65 464	265	395	51 458	244
Severe obesity	272	35 502	154	92	11 732	64
Total	2629	340 101	1564	2487	286 962	1742
Born in 1931–1940
Normal weight	282	47 746	38	266	41 512	87
Overweight	330	55 514	58	389	64 835	82
Moderate obesity	212	34 405	43	194	31 647	44
Severe obesity	176	27 595	42	58	8898	17
Total	1000	165 260	181	907	146 892	230
Born in 1941–1957
Normal weight	697	122 775	33	596	101 092	93
Overweight	653	113 017	45	770	135 292	65
Moderate obesity	441	75 637	32	321	55 880	31
Severe obesity	370	62 832	30	137	23 316	26
Total	2161	374 261	140	1824	315 580	215
Total	5790	879 622	1885	5218	749 434	2187

Note. BMI = body mass index. Analyses excluded participants who were underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m²) or were younger than 36 years at baseline.

Source. Data were drawn from the 1988–1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, with mortality through December 2006.¹⁹

^aNormal weight, BMI = 18.5 — < 25 kg/m²; overweight, BMI = 25 — < 30 kg/m²; moderate obesity, BMI = 30 — < 35 kg/m²; severe obesity, BMI ≥ 35 kg/m².