Two Body Measurements Linked to Nearly Double The Risk of Death – And Neither One Is BMI

Scientists have identified two simple body measurements that together are linked to nearly double the risk of death.

Neither one is BMI.

Today, body mass index (BMI) is the go-to way that many clinicians assess healthy weight, but recent evidence has called into question how reliably this one factor can predict the relative risk of death.

Now, researchers in China have identified another unique combo, measuring both body size and strength, that was linked to nearly double the risk of death.

Their study tracked the health of 5,674 adults in the United States over the course of nearly 7 years.

In that time, 373 deaths occurred.

Participants with both excess abdominal fat and relatively weak grip strength were especially at risk of death during the study.

They had a 97 percent increased risk of mortality compared to those without excess abdominal weight or low relative grip strength.

In this particular study, abdominal fat wasn’t measured directly. It was gauged based on the diameter of a participant’s abdomen.

On its own, this measurement was not significantly associated with mortality.

But low relative grip strength was.

Previous studies have examined the association between absolute grip strength and mortality risk, but the current study considered participants’ grip strength relative to their body size.

Those with the weakest grips relative to their body size showed a significantly elevated mortality risk of nearly 60 percent.

Combined, excess abdominal fat and low relative grip strength were associated with a nearly two-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality.

This was independent of age, socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors, and comorbidities.

The team, therefore, argues that abdominal diameter “may better reflect visceral adiposity”, whereas relative grip strength “may better identify weakness in individuals with greater body mass.”

Both of these simple measurements could be conducted safely and easily in clinical settings, although calculating relative grip strength also requires BMI.

While it’s hard to compare these results to prior research, the mortality association is “somewhat stronger than the pooled estimate from studies using BMI, waist circumference, or absolute grip strength,” according to the authors.

But more evidence is needed before either test becomes a staple at the doctor’s office.

As much as we might like it to, no single number can definitively predict a person’s future health. What some body measurements can do, however, is keep doctors and patients aware of certain risk factors.

The best picture of overall health may come from combining together numerous measurements.

When excess body fat and low grip strength co-occur, they are known together as dynapenic obesity.

A previous meta-analysis found a 73 percent higher mortality risk for dynapenic obesity, defined using waist circumference; other studies have used BMI, alongside mostly absolute measures of grip strength.

Emerging evidence suggests that measures of body fat may be more predictive of health issues than BMI alone.

Related: Where You Carry Your Body Fat Is Directly Linked to Brain Aging in First-of-Its-Kind Study

“BMI can still be useful, but it should be interpreted alongside waist circumference, changes in weight, strength, physical function, and overall health,” said University of Rhode Island kinesiologist Bryan Blissmer.

In recent research, Blissmer and his colleagues found that an overweight BMI score was actually associated with lower mortality in both sexes.

“For older adults,” Blissmer explained in a recent interview, “maintaining muscle, mobility, and good nutrition deserves attention alongside body weight, and unexplained weight loss should not automatically be viewed as a positive.”

The study is published in The Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics.