Weight, Weight Change, and Coronary Heart Disease in Women

Objective.\p=m-\Toassess the validity of the 1990 US weight guidelines for women that support a substantial gain in weight at approximately 35 years of age and rec-ommend a range of body mass index (BMI) (defined as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) from 21 to 27 kg/m2, in terms of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in women. Design.\p=m-\Prospectivecohort study. Setting.\p=m-\Femaleregistered nurses in the United States. Participants.\p=m-\Atotal of 115 818 women aged 30 to 55 years in 1976 and with-out a history of previous CHD. Main Outcome Measure.\p=m-\Incidenceof CHD defined as nonfatal myocardial infarction or fatal CHD. Results.\p=m-\During14 years of follow-up, 1292 cases of CHD were ascertained. After controlling for age, smoking, menopausal status, postmenopausal hormone use, and parental history of CHD and using as a reference women with a BMI of less than 21 kg/m2, relative risks (RRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for CH