Body Mass Index (BMI) News and Research

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Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure that relates body weight to height. BMI is sometimes used to measure total body fat and whether a person is a healthy weight. Excess body fat is linked to an increased risk of some diseases including heart disease and some cancers.

Eating ultra-processed foods may rewire your brain’s hunger and reward circuits

High intake of ultra-processed foods is linked to adverse metabolic health and microstructural brain changes in regions that control appetite and reward. These effects occur both through obesity-related pathways and independently via inflammation and dyslipidemia.

9 Apr 2025

Anxiety fuels emotional eating and weight gain, study finds

Emotional eating and body dissatisfaction mediate links between BMI changes and mental health. These psychosocial factors explain how anxiety, depression, and weight gain interrelate over time.

8 Apr 2025

Your season of conception could shape your body’s calorie-burning ability

Being conceived in colder months may enhance your body’s ability to burn calories throughout life. A new study shows cold-season conception is linked to more active brown fat and greater energy expenditure in adulthood.

8 Apr 2025

Vitamin C from fresh foods helps lower heart disease risk in type 2 diabetes

Low vitamin C levels are linked to higher cardiovascular disease prevalence in people with type 2 diabetes. Fresh fruit and vegetable intake is associated with higher vitamin C levels and may offer protective cardiovascular effects.

7 Apr 2025

How your dairy choices could impact your risk of type 2 diabetes, new study shows

A study of Swedish adults finds that high intake of non-fermented milk and cheese increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, while fermented milk, cream, and butter offer protective benefits.

7 Apr 2025

Reducing cardiometabolic risk and inflammation with pomegranate

Pomegranate extract shows promise in lowering systolic blood pressure and inflammatory markers, highlighting its role in promoting healthy aging for adults 55+.

4 Apr 2025

Short on time? Weekend workouts still boost longevity, researchers say

A large UK Biobank study found that concentrating weekly physical activity into one or two days provides similar mortality benefits as spreading it across the week. Regular and “weekend warrior” exercise patterns both significantly reduced all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality.

3 Apr 2025

Healthy lifestyle linked to lower mortality in cancer survivors

In 2022, the American Cancer Society (ACS) updated its nutrition and activity guidelines for cancer survivors, recommending they avoid obesity, stay physically active, eat a healthy diet, and limit alcohol intake.

3 Apr 2025

Study reveals hidden cardiovascular risks in real-world low-carb diets

Researchers examined a real-world low-carbohydrate high-fat (LCHF) diet population to assess links between nutrient intake and cardiovascular risk.

2 Apr 2025

Pregnancy linked to lower long COVID risk in study of over 70,000 women

Pregnant women who contract SARS-CoV-2 may have a lower risk of developing Long COVID than matched non-pregnant women.

2 Apr 2025

Only 13% of French adults have optimal heart health—here’s what’s driving the gap

Only 13% of French adults aged 18–69 have optimal cardiovascular health, according to a national study using the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) score. The findings highlight missed prevention opportunities and suggest that modest lifestyle changes could prevent up to 81% of cardiovascular events.

1 Apr 2025

Do lifetime body weight patterns affect kidney cancer risk?

Excess weight in mid-life is a known risk factor for kidney cancer, but new research indicates that weight patterns throughout life may also affect an individual’s likelihood of developing this malignancy.

1 Apr 2025

What blueberries do and don’t do for your microbiome and heart

Regular blueberry consumption for 12 weeks enriched Coriobacteriales incertae sedis in the gut microbiota of older overweight adults. However, this microbial shift was not linked to significant improvements in cardiometabolic biomarkers.

31 Mar 2025

Five lifestyle changes by 50 can add a decade to your life, global study finds

Study estimates the global lifetime risk and benefits of modifying cardiovascular risk factors like hypertension, smoking, and obesity by age 50, showing significant improvements in both life expectancy and quality of life. It highlights the importance of early intervention and midlife changes in preventing cardiovascular disease and mortality.

31 Mar 2025

Why sucralose could make you hungrier instead of helping you lose weight

Sucralose increases hypothalamic activity linked to hunger more than sugar or water, especially in women and people with obesity.

30 Mar 2025

Expanded access to anti-obesity medications could boost life expectancy and save society billions

A new USC Schaeffer Center white paper finds expanded access to anti-obesity medications would lead to significant increases in life expectancy and disease-free years while generating a substantial societal return on investment, even after accounting for treatment costs.

27 Mar 2025

Study links high sodium intake to increased risk of general and abdominal obesity

New research to be presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025, Malaga, Spain, 11-14 May) shows an association between the amount of sodium consumed in the diet and the risk of both general and abdominal obesity.

26 Mar 2025

Light intensity daily physical activities may reduce cancer risk

In a prospective cohort study of more than 85,000 adults in the United Kingdom, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and University of Oxford found that individuals who engaged in light- and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity daily physical activity had a lower risk of cancer than individuals who were more sedentary.

26 Mar 2025

Epigenetic scores offer new insights into cardiometabolic disease prevention

A new study explores how epigenetic markers-chemical modifications that influence gene activity-can help predict the risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases and guide personalized prevention strategies.

25 Mar 2025

Drinking diet drinks in pregnancy raises overweight risk in children, study finds

Daily consumption of artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) during pregnancy was linked to a modest but consistent increase in overweight risk in offspring from age 7 to 18. Surprisingly, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) were associated with a lower risk, though lifestyle differences may explain this.

25 Mar 2025