Cardiovascular Epidemiology Seminar Series
“Who Counts as Normal? Using Maximum Weight to Redefine Body Mass Index Categories in Studies of the Mortality Risks of Obesity”
Presented by:
Andrew Stokes
Ph.D. Candidate in Demography and Sociology
University of Pennsylvania
Abstract: I investigate the mortality risks of obesity among older adults in the US using an innovative approach that is robust to the biasing effects of illness-induced weight loss. Instead of using body mass index (BMI) at time of survey, I employ a measure of maximum lifetime BMI. My results suggest that obesity may have a substantially larger impact on US mortality than indicated in much of the prior literature.
Bio: Andrew Stokes is a PhD Candidate in Demography and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as Project Director for a National Institutes of Health R01 grant and teaches the course “Health of Populations”. His dissertation, entitled "Social Determinants and International Comparisons of Health and Mortality" examines demographic and sociological dimensions of obesity. In his capacity as Project Director, he has collaborated on a number of projects relating to obesity and chronic disease in the United States, including a project on the effects of cohort behavioral histories of smoking and obesity on future longevity and another that examines the extent to which the health system response to diabetes has been effective nationally. Prior to his graduate studies, he was a post-bachelor fellow at the Harvard Initiative for Global Health in Cambridge, MA and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, WA. He received his undergraduate degree from Bates College in Lewiston, ME.
February 7, 2014 (Friday)
11:00am-12:00pm
Northwestern University
Dept. of Preventive Medicine
Stamler Conference Room
680 N. Lake Shore Drive, Suite 1400
Chicago, IL 60611
Click here to join via Adobe Connect
Levon Guzman
(312) 503-0027
Email