Physical activity, general and abdominal obesity and mortality in European men and women

Background: The higher risk of death due to excess adiposity may be attenuated by physical activity (PA). We examined the independent and combined associations between PA, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC) and all-cause mortality and estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF) and the years of life gained for these exposures. Methods and Results: BMI and WC were measured among 334,161 European men and women. PA was assessed by a validated questionnaire and categorised into four groups. The combined associations between PA, general and abdominal obesity with mortality were examined with Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for age, sex, education, smoking, and alcohol intake. Centre-specific PAF associated with inactivity, obesity (BMI>30) and abdominal obesity (>102 cm for men, >88cm for women) were calculated and combined in random-effects …