Body Mass Index (BMI) News and Research

RSS

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.

Patchwork of progress in California's battle against childhood obesity

A new study released today offers hope that California may finally be getting a handle on its 30-year battle with childhood obesity, but it also showcases a patchwork of progress that leaves the majority of the state's counties still registering increases in obesity rates among school-age children.

10 Nov 2011

Experimental drug selectively destroys blood supply of fat tissue and decreases body fat

Obese rhesus monkeys lost on average 11 percent of their body weight after four weeks of treatment with an experimental drug that selectively destroys the blood supply of fat tissue, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in Science Translational Medicine.

10 Nov 2011

Human body better at fighting gum disease when fat cells disappear

Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine researchers found the human body is better at fighting gum disease when fat cells, which trigger inflammation, disappear.

10 Nov 2011

Men and overweight individuals eat faster, consume more

Two new studies by researchers at the University of Rhode Island are providing additional insights into the role that eating rate plays in the amount of food one consumes. The studies found that men eat significantly faster than women, heavier people eat faster than slimmer people, and refined grains are consumed faster than whole grains, among other findings.

9 Nov 2011

Obesity affecting wealthy, middle classes more than poor in developing countries, study says

"'First world' health problems such as obesity and heart disease may be gaining ground in developing nations, but they are mostly afflicting the rich and middle class while poor people remain undernourished and underweight," according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Reuters reports.

5 Nov 2011

New link between obesity, SDB and cognition among elementary school children

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found important new relationships between obesity, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and cognitive processing among elementary school children.

4 Nov 2011

BMI, age are important risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus

Age and body mass index (BMI) are important risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) particularly amongst South Asian and Black African women finds new research published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

2 Nov 2011

Even without depression, obesity raises health costs in Group Health study

Obesity and depression both dramatically increase health care costs, but they mainly act separately, according to a study published in the November 2011 Journal of General Internal Medicine by Group Health Research Institute scientists.

1 Nov 2011

NIH awards $452,218 for research on proinflammatory biomarkers and post-breast cancer lymphedema

New York University College of Nursing received a two-year, $452,218.00 grant from the national Institutes of Health to research "Proinflammatory Biomarkers and Post-Breast Cancer Lymphedema."

28 Oct 2011

SCI patients with autonomic dysfunction more likely to develop heart disease

New research from the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation may help explain why people with spinal cord injury (SCI) have a higher risk of developing heart disease.

24 Oct 2011

Diet, body weight in young adulthood associated with risk for NHL

Body weight in young adulthood and diet appeared to be associated with the risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to results presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011.

24 Oct 2011

Weight gain during adulthood may increase risk of endometrial cancer in women

Postmenopausal women who gained weight during adulthood had an increased risk for endometrial cancer compared with women who maintained a stable weight, according to data from the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort.

24 Oct 2011

Studies find less vitamin D intake among menopausal women

A healthy diet is especially important during the menopause - a period in which the risk of suffering from health problems increases. Various studies analyse the diet of peri- and postmenopausal women in Spain alongside the troubles that come with this transition. The results show that all of those groups studied have a deficient intake of vitamin D.

21 Oct 2011

African-Americans have higher burden of multiple, large-joint OA

New research suggests African Americans have a higher burden of multiple, large-joint osteoarthritis (OA), and may not be recognized based on the current definition of "generalized OA."

21 Oct 2011

Young adults born prematurely show multiple biological signs of risks to future health

Young adults who were born prematurely show multiple biological signs of risks to future health, research from Imperial College London has found. The scientists, reporting their findings tomorrow in the journal Pediatric Research, say that the research indicates that urgent work is now needed to monitor preterm babies into adulthood to improve the detection of early signs of disease.

19 Oct 2011

Obesity has greater impact on girls' blood pressure

The female hormone estrogen is known to offer protection for the heart, but obesity may be taking away that edge in adolescent girls. New research from the University of California at Merced finds that although obesity does not help teens of either gender, it has a greater impact on girls' blood pressure than it does on boys'.

15 Oct 2011

Obese post-menopausal women outperform normal weight counterparts in cognitive tasks

Obesity has been associated with cognitive decline, characterized by a deterioration of mental abilities that involve memory, language, and thought-processing speed.

14 Oct 2011

Is American obesity rate on the decline? Survey reports encouraging

Latest findings showed that for the first time “normal” beat out “overweight.” The survey however found that 61.6% of Americans were in the categories of either “overweight” or “obese”. The survey found 35.8 percent of Americans to be overweight, compared with 36.0 percent a year ago, and 25.8 percent obese, down from 26.6 percent last year.

10 Oct 2011

Men get type 2 diabetes at a lower BMI than women: Study

A latest study reveals that men need to gain little weight in order to develop type 2 diabetes as compared to women. A study carried out by clinical academics at Glasgow University found men developed the disease at a lower Body Mass Index than women, explaining why men have higher rates of diabetes in many parts of the world.

3 Oct 2011

Bedtime found to be important for preteens, teens to keep them slimmer and active: Study

Ben Franklin was right, at least on the healthy part. "Early to bed and early to rise" appears to have helped a cross-section of early-bird Australian youths keep slimmer and more physically active than their night-owl peers, even though both groups got the same amount of sleep.

1 Oct 2011