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.

Children need a certain amount of fat in their diet

Parents should think twice before offering a low-fat menu to youngsters, despite concerns over obesity.

17 Aug 2007

Gaining or losing weight in between pregnancies can have major health implications for an unborn baby

While weight and obesity have long concerned women in relation to body image and lifestyle issues, few are aware of the possible risks that fluctuating weight could have on their unborn child, write Dr Jennifer Walsh and Professor Deirdre Murphy.

27 Jul 2007

Don't drink the fizzy stuff!

Drinking more than one soft drink daily whether it's regular or diet may be associated with an increase in the risk factors for heart disease, Framingham researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

24 Jul 2007

U.S. in 2015 - a nation of fatties!

According to researchers in the U.S. the way things are going by the year 2015 seventy five percent of the population will be overweight and 41 percent will be obese.

22 Jul 2007

Obesity a risk factor for multiple myeloma

An obese person is more likely than a lean person to develop multiple myeloma, according to researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health.

20 Jul 2007

Obesity a risk factor for multiple myeloma

An obese person is more likely than a lean person to develop multiple myeloma, according to researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health.

19 Jul 2007

Pediatricians say advice to obese kids and families falls on deaf ears

Pediatricians who talk to obese patients and their families about losing weight feel their conversation makes little difference in encouraging a lifestyle change, a small Saint Louis University study finds.

17 Jul 2007

Western diet increases breast cancer risk in Asian women

A study on the dietary habits of Chinese women has found that those who ate a Western diet increased their risk for breast cancer.

11 Jul 2007

Low-fat, high-carbohydrate, sucrose-containing diet combined with increased exercise can be effective for slimming

New study challenges conventional thinking that high carbohydrate, low fat slimming plan should contain little or no added sugar (sucrose).

10 Jul 2007

Lowering cardiac risk later in life

In a study published in the July 2007 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston found that people 45 to 64 years of age who added healthy lifestyle behaviors could substantially reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and reduce their death rate.

29 Jun 2007

Family-based weight management program cuts diabetes risk, improves BMI in overweight children

Children who participated in a family-based weight management program designed for inner-city minority children had better outcomes regarding weight gain, body fat, body mass index (BMI) and insulin sensitivity compared to children who received traditional weight counseling in a clinic, according to a study in the June 27 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, a theme issue on chronic diseases of children.

27 Jun 2007

More fat may have some advantages for type 1 diabetes and heart disease

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences studying links between an early sign of heart disease called coronary artery calcification and body fat have found that, paradoxically, more fat may have some advantages, at least for people particularly women who have type 1 diabetes.

26 Jun 2007

Obesity associated with lower risk of active pulmonary tuberculosis in older population of Hong Kong

Obese or overweight Chinese individuals age 65 and older have a lower risk of developing tuberculosis than those at a normal weight, according to a study in the June 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

26 Jun 2007

Autistic boys have high levels of growth hormones

Boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder had higher levels of hormones involved with growth in comparison to boys who do not have autism, reported researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine.

22 Jun 2007

Obese heart attack patients more likely to survive after treatment than normal weight patients

Obese and very obese patients have a lower risk of dying after they have been treated for heart attacks than do normal weight patients, according to research published in the European Heart Journal today (Wednesday 20 June).

20 Jun 2007

Why excessive body weight increases the risk for heart disease

New research from The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center helps explain why excessive body weight increases the risk for heart disease.

20 Jun 2007

Child obesity epidemic

The obesity epidemic has become a major public health problem in both industrialized countries and the developing world.

20 Jun 2007

Women infected with bacteria known to cause periodontal disease more likely to have more severe oral bone loss

A study conducted in a large sample of postmenopausal women by University at Buffalo epidemiologists has provided new information on the prevalence of certain gum-disease-causing oral bacteria in this population and the association of the bacteria with oral bone loss.

19 Jun 2007

Obesity epidemic and rheumatoid arthritis

The global obesity epidemic was issued with a further health warning today ? that obesity exacerbates the quality of life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

17 Jun 2007

Many college students on the path toward chronic health diseases

Obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and inactivity: they're not just your father's problems any more, University of New Hampshire research finds.

17 Jun 2007