to the editor: Berrington de Gonzalez et al. define the relationship between BMI and mortality. Although BMI is a popular marker of obesity, BMI is directly proportional to height. Tall, thin persons can have higher BMIs than short, obese persons. Therefore, BMI may be considered a flawed index of obesity that is confounded by height. Few studies consider indexes of obesity other than BMI, even when height is a confounding factor. The "human body shape index" (the weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters) is less sensitive to height, since tall people are typically thinner than short people; the ponderal index (the weight in kilograms divided by the cube of the height in meters) also correlates with obesity but not height. Ponderal index as a marker of obesity correlates strongly with inflammation, and preliminary evidence shows that ponderal index is superior to BMI as a marker of obesity-related complications. Short stature is associated with malnutrition, childhood infections, lower socioeconomic status, and an increased rate of death among adults. Berrington de Gonzalez et al. may be able to show additional or stronger associations among risk, height, and obesity by examining other obesity indexes that are not confounded by height against their outcomes.
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机译：致编辑：Berrington de Gonzalez等。定义体重指数与死亡率之间的关系。尽管BMI是肥胖的流行标志，但BMI与身高成正比。高个子的瘦人比矮个子的肥胖者具有更高的BMI。因此，BMI可能被认为是肥胖的有缺陷的指标，并与身高混淆。除了身高体重指数，很少有研究考虑肥胖指数，即使身高是一个混杂因素。 “人体形状指数”（以公斤为单位的体重除以以米为单位的身高）对身高的敏感性较低，因为高个子的人通常比矮个子的人瘦。肥胖指数（以公斤为单位的体重除以以米为单位的身高的立方）也与肥胖相关，但与身高无关。肥胖指数的肥胖指数与炎症密切相关，初步证据表明，肥胖指数优于肥胖指数，是肥胖相关并发症的标志。身材矮小与营养不良，儿童感染，较低的社会经济地位以及成年人死亡率增加有关。 Berrington de Gonzalez等。通过检查没有与身高混淆的其他肥胖指数与其结果之间的关系，也许可以显示风险，身高和肥胖之间的其他或更强的关联。
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