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.

Bariatric procedure offers long-term reduction in heart risk factors

As rates of obesity in America continue to soar, surgery has become an increasingly popular solution when diet and exercise regimens fail.

14 Mar 2006

Diabetics overestimate healthy body weight

Heavier patients with diabetes are more likely to overestimate their "healthiest" body weight compared to those of normal weight, according to a study published in the current issue of Diabetes Care.

14 Mar 2006

Child's fatness at age five is not related to being breastfed

Does breastfeeding or the age at which other foods are introduced to infants affect the risk of obesity in early childhood? Research on this question has produced mixed results

9 Mar 2006

Depression and anxiety during childhood linked to higher BMI into adulthood for women but not men

The increasing prevalence of obesity among children and adults is becoming a public health crisis, according to background information in the article.

9 Mar 2006

Inflammation is a crucial and dangerous step in the development of obesity

New research by the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School shows that the biggest health threat to fat and obese people isn't the fat itself but the fact that the fat fuels a killer inflammation response in people.

8 Mar 2006

Being obese or very slim increases male drivers' risk of dying in a car crash

A team at the Injury Research Center of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has found that being obese increases male drivers' risk of dying in a car crash, as does being very slim. However, being moderately overweight might help cushion the blow.

7 Mar 2006

Cutting out the sodas equals weight loss for teens

Researchers from the Children's Hospital Boston say that the surge in children's consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks such as sodas, sports drinks, "juice drinks," iced teas, lemonades and punches matches the rise in childhood obesity.

7 Mar 2006

Skinny fashion not to blame, anorexia in the genes

Researchers say that genetic factors and neuroticism may be linked with anorexia nervosa.

7 Mar 2006

Obese people may be more sensitive to pain

The obese patients showed a greater physical response to the electrical stimulation than did the non-obese people, both before and after the training session. This indicates they had a lower tolerance for the painful stimulation despite reporting, in questionnaires, that they felt no more pain than non-obese people.

1 Mar 2006

Obesity may accelerate the onset of type 1 diabetes in some

Obesity, long known as a cause of type II diabetes, may accelerate the onset of type 1 diabetes in some - but not all - groups of younger patients, according to research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and six clinical sites nationally.

5 Feb 2006

Babies of obese mothers have higher risk of some birth defects

Compared to normal-weight women, overweight and obese women suffer more pregnancy complications and their babies have more medical problems at birth, according to a position paper of the Public Affairs Committee of the Teratology Society.

5 Feb 2006

Obesity in middle age raises heart disease and diabetes risk

Obesity in middle age - even without established cardiovascular disease risk factors such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels - greatly increases risk of hospitalization for and death from heart disease and diabetes in older age, according to a study in the Jan. 11 issue of the JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association.

10 Jan 2006

Obesity increases risk of kidney failure seven fold

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have determined that there is a strong relationship between being obese and developing end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure.

8 Jan 2006

Study shows obesity is related to kidney failure

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have determined that there is a strong relationship between being obese and developing end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure.

2 Jan 2006

Obesity related to kidney failure

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have determined that there is a strong relationship between being obese and developing end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure.

2 Jan 2006

Unsafe neighborhoods linked to overweight children

Children who live in neighborhoods that their parents believe are unsafe are more likely to be overweight than those in neighborhoods perceived as safe, according to a study in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

2 Jan 2006

Diets bad for your mental health

British psychologists say that skinny people are more likely to be unhappy and commit suicide than those who are overweight.

14 Dec 2005

Prevention of childhood obesity needs to begin before a woman ever gets pregnant

A child's weight may be influenced by his mother even before he is actually born, according to new research.

7 Dec 2005

People who drink small amounts of alcohol regularly are less likely to be obese

...than people who do not drink at all. A study published today in the open access journal BMC Public Health shows that consuming no more than a drink or two a few times a week reduces the risk of being obese.

5 Dec 2005

Lifestyle modification should be the first line of treatment for obesity

A new study shows that treatment with a lifestyle modification program of diet, exercise and behavioral therapy when used in combination with the weight loss medication sibutramine (Meridia) resulted in significantly greater weight loss among obese adults than treatment with the medication alone.

28 Nov 2005