The Obesity Paradox and Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Table 1

Baseline characteristics of the study population.

Characteristic	BMI, 18.5–29.9 (𝑛=511)	BMI, ≥30.0 (𝑛=300)	𝑃-value
Age, years	53.8±7.5	52.5±6.7	0.01
Non-Hispanic white, %	73.4	66.3	0.03
Cardiorespiratory fitness, METs*	11.2±3.5	9.2±3.0	<0.001
Unfit, %*	25.2	47.0	<0.001
Fit, %*	74.8	53.0
Resting heart rate (bpm)	76.1±14.1	79.2±14.7	0.003
Resting blood pressure (mmHg)
Systolic	130.3±18.2	134.9±18.7	<0.001
Diastolic	83.9±10.6	86.4±12.1	0.002
Hypertension, %	32.3	56.3	<0.001
Hypercholesterolemia, %	33.6	44.9	0.002
Cardiovascular medication use, %
Betablockers	9.8	20.0	<0.001
Calcium antagonists	10.0	19.0	<0.001
Antihypertensives	16.6	23.3	0.02
Antiarrhythmics	1.6	1.3	0.79
ACE inhibitors	4.7	12.7	<0.001
Anticoagulants	9.4	13.7	0.06
Statins	4.3	4.0	0.83
Diuretics	1.0	2.7	0.06
All-cause deaths, %	11.9	11.3	0.80
Followup, years	8.9±5.4	8.3±5.0	0.12

Data shown are mean ± SD unless otherwise specified. 𝑃 values were calculated from the 𝑡-test for continuous variables and chi-square for categorical variables. BMI, body mass index; METs, metabolic equivalents.
*1 MET = 3.5 mL/kg/min oxygen uptake, calculated from final treadmill speed and grade during maximal exercise test; lower third (<9 METs) and upper two-thirds (≥9 METs) of cohort were classified as unfit and fit, respectively.