SAGE-Hindawi Access to Research Journal of Aging Research Volume 2011, Article ID 138015, 10 pages doi:10.4061/2011/138015 Research Article Body Mass Index Is Associated with Dietary Patterns and Health Conditions in Georgia Centenarians Dorothy B. Hausman,1 Mary Ann Johnson,1 Adam Davey,2 and Leonard W. Poon3 1 Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia, 280 Dawson Hall, Athens, GA 30602, USA 2 Department of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA 3 Institute of Gerontology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Dorothy B. Hausman, dhausman@uga.edu Received 2 March 2011; Accepted 4 April 2011 Academic Editor: Bo A. Hagberg Copyright © 2011 Dorothy B. Hausman et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Associations between body mass index (BMI) and dietary patterns and health conditions were explored in a population-based multiethnic sample of centenarians from northern Georgia. BMI ≤20 and ≥25 was prevalent in 30.9% and 25.3% of study participants, respectively. In a series of logistic regression analyses controlled for gender and place of residence, the probability of having BMI ≥25 was increased by being black versus white and having a low citrus fruit, noncitrus fruit, orange/yellow vegetable or total fruit and vegetable intake. The probability of having BMI ≤20 was not associated with dietary intake. When controlled for race, gender, residence, and total fruit and vegetable intake, BMI ≥25 was an independent risk factor for diabetes or having a systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg, whereas BMI ≤20 was a risk factor for anemia. Given the many potential adverse consequences of under- and overweight, eﬀorts are needed to maintain a healthy weight, even in the oldest old. 1. Introduction Body mass index is a simple index of weight for height that is frequently used in the assessment of nutritional status. A low BMI, or underweight status, is often associated with an increased risk of mortality in seriously ill or hospitalized older adults [1, 2]. Conversely, a high BMI, indicative of overweight or obesity, is associated with an exacerbation in age-related physical and cognitive decline [3, 4] and with an increased prevalence or risk of many chronic health conditions common in older adults such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease [3–5]. Such asso- ciations are typically determined across the entire spectrum of older adults (aged 60+), with no further demarcation within this age classiﬁcation. Our ﬁnding of a much higher prevalence of several nutritional deﬁciencies in centenarians as compared with octogenarians [6, 7], suggests that there is considerable heterogeneity in nutrient status in the “older adult” age group. Likewise, there may also be considerable heterogeneity within the older adult age group with regard to chronic health conditions. Thus, it is not known whether the associations between underweight or overweight/obesity and chronic health conditions as observed in previous studies of older adults extend to the very old. Dietary intake patterns featuring a high intake of nutrient-dense foods such as cereals, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat meat and dairy products have been associated with a number of favorable health outcomes in adults including a decreased prevalence of obesity [8, 9], lower rates of weight gain over time [10], and better quality of life and improved survival [11]. In contrast, low-nutrient dense dietary patterns with high intakes of sweets, desserts, and high-fat dairy products have been associated with higher rates of obesity and poor nutritional status in older adults [9]. Whether these observations extend to the very old is unknown. Studies comparing energy intakes and dietary intake patterns of centenarians to younger older adult cohorts have generally observed lower energy and/or fat intake in the centenarians, while dietary preferences of centenarians are considerably more varied and dependent of the region of study likely reﬂecting cultural patterns and cohort diﬀerences rather than longevity-related diﬀerences