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.

People with metabolic abnormalities may experience rapid decline in their cognitive skills

People who are obese and also have high blood pressure and other risk factors called metabolic abnormalities may experience a faster decline in their cognitive skills over time than others, according to a study published in the August 21, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

21 Aug 2012

Food preferences influence sleep patterns, metabolic health

The relationship between short sleep duration and the development of metabolic abnormalities may be partly influenced by food preferences, show study findings.

16 Aug 2012

Delaying gratification at 4 years of age may affect weight later in life

As adults, we know that self-control and delaying gratification are important for making healthful eating choices, portion control, and maintaining a healthy weight. However, exhibiting these skills at a young age actually may affect weight later in life. A new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics finds that delaying gratification longer at 4 years of age is associated with having a lower body mass index (BMI) 30 years later.

16 Aug 2012

Computer and web-based weight management programmes show promise against obesity

Computer and web-based weight management programmes may provide a cost effective way of addressing the growing problem of obesity, according to a team of seven researchers who undertook a Cochrane systematic review. The researchers, from Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, USA, found that delivering weight loss or weight maintenance programmes online or by computer helped overweight and obese patients lose and/or maintain weight.

16 Aug 2012

Online weight management programmes show promise

15 Aug 2012

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass ‘acceptable long term’

Obese patients who undergo laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass retain a fair quality of life 9 years later, research suggests.

13 Aug 2012

Twelve states currently have adult obesity rate above 30%

Twelve states currently have an adult obesity rate above 30 percent, according to a new analysis released today by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

13 Aug 2012

Korean meals may help dieters shed the pounds

Regularly incorporating Korean dishes into a mainly Western-style diet may be an effective way to lose weight, say researchers.

9 Aug 2012

Pre-cesarean antibiotics cut infection risk

Administering prophylactic antibiotics before women undergo cesareans significantly reduces postsurgical infection rates, show US study findings.

9 Aug 2012

Dabigatran ‘still effective in obese’

The oral direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran is an effective thromboprophylactic therapy for patients undergoing total hip or knee replacement regardless of their body mass index, researchers assert.

9 Aug 2012

Newborn death risk increases with maternal obesity in sub-Saharan Africa

New research published Online First in The Lancet indicates that babies born to mothers who are overweight or obese in sub-Saharan Africa, where rates of obesity are projected to increase at an alarming rate during the next two decades, are significantly more likely to die in the first two days after their birth. The study is the first to shed light on the role of maternal obesity in neonatal death (during the first 28 days of life) in developing countries.

9 Aug 2012

High BMI linked to poor outcomes after prostatectomy and ADT

Men initiating androgen deprivation therapy after radical prostatectomy are more likely to experience poor outcomes if they are overweight or obese, report researchers.

8 Aug 2012

Normal-weight adults with new-onset diabetes have higher mortality rate

American adults of a normal weight with new-onset diabetes die at a higher rate than overweight/obese adults with the same disease, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

8 Aug 2012

Leptin polymorphism combinations influence BMI in Chinese

The presence of genetic variants in both the leptin gene and the gene for its receptor may predispose Chinese individuals to obesity, report researchers.

7 Aug 2012

Childhood obesity on the rise in China

Childhood obesity is on the rise in China, and children and parents there tend to underestimate body weight, according to Penn State health policy researchers.

7 Aug 2012

Adiposity linked to cognitive decline in elderly

High levels of adiposity increase rates of cognitive decline in the “young elderly” aged between 60 and 70 years, report Korean researchers.

6 Aug 2012

Pediatric liver transplant recipients have increased risk of death when from obese donors

Children undergoing liver transplantation are at greater risk of graft loss and death from adult organ donors who are severely obese according to research published in the August issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. The study, funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that pediatric donor body mass index (BMI) did not increase mortality risk in this pediatric population.

1 Aug 2012

Obesity and heart disease risk in children: an interview with Joana Kist-van Holthe

'What defines obesity in children' is a very important question, primarily because we need to use one definition in order to be able to compare the prevalence of obesity in different countries. It is also important to have a single definition in order to evaluate whether interventions are successful or not.

31 Jul 2012