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.

Obesity is linked to lower levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in men

A study reported in the current issue of Cancer, the journal of the American Cancer Society, shows that obesity is linked to lower levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in men, making early detection tests unreliable.

24 Jan 2005

Role of ethnicity in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

The first study to examine nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among different ethnic and racial groups in the United States finds that Hispanics may be at a higher risk of developing the condition. The study is published in Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hepatology is available online via Wiley InterScience.

19 Jan 2005

Obese and overweight patients in a study group reported sleeping less

Insufficient sleep causes neurocognitive changes such as excessive daytime sleepiness, altered mood, and increased risk for work-related injury and automotive accidents, according to background information in the article. It has been reported that the average American is currently getting less sleep than they did a century ago.

10 Jan 2005

More a child is overweight, the poorer quality of life that child will experience

New research indicates that the more a child is overweight, the poorer quality of life that child will experience, though not to the degree reported in a previous study, according to an article in the January 5 issue of JAMA.

5 Jan 2005

Obesity may impose a smaller healthcare cost on African-Americans than other demographic groups

Obesity may impose a smaller healthcare cost on African-Americans than other demographic groups, according to a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) that found spending on obesity-related problems becomes progressively higher as adults grow older.

28 Dec 2004

Emigrating to America makes you fat

The longer an immigrant lives in the U.S. the more likely they are to be obese, according to a study in the December 15 issue of JAMA.

16 Dec 2004

The regulation of physical activity in young children

The evidence at present suggests that neither better facilities, nor an increase in the amount of time allocated to PE to four hours a week, will improve physical activity levels in children as a whole and thereby impact on the rising tide of obesity.

16 Dec 2004

Race may play an important role in determining a person's obesity and fitness levels

Race may play an important role in determining a person's obesity and fitness levels, shows a new study in the December issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).

13 Dec 2004

Greater risk of heart attack associated with Vioxx than Celebrex

In the first epidemiological study designed and executed specifically to determine the heart-attack risk associated with COX-2 inhibitors rofecoxib (Vioxx) and celecoxib (Celebrex), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found a greater risk of heart attack associated with Vioxx than Celebrex, although neither of the two drugs showed a statistically significant elevated risk of heart attack relative to people who did not use the drugs.

8 Dec 2004

Men and women who were overweight in young adulthood and middle age have significantly higher Medicare costs in older age

According to background information, obesity is associated with increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, and certain cancers, and has been identified as a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD).

8 Dec 2004

Prevalence of overweight increased in children aged two to four years from low-income families

The prevalence of overweight increased from 1989 to 2000 in children aged two to four years from low-income families, according to an article in the December issue of The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

6 Dec 2004

Researchers step closer to cure for common childhood cancer

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant disease caused by the abnormal growth and development of white blood cells (WBC) in the bone marrow and blood. ALL is the most common cancer occurring in children with an annual rate of approximately 30 to 40 new cases per million.

5 Dec 2004

Benefits of weight loss may depend on alignment of affected leg, study suggests

A painful and sometimes crippling disease characterized by progressive cartilage loss, osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee affects an estimated 6 percent of adults over age 30.

2 Dec 2004

Weight gain beginning in childhood can lead to an enlarged heart

Weight gain beginning in childhood can lead to an enlarged heart by early adulthood, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

24 Nov 2004

Obesity could increase a person’s risk for atrial fibrillation

New research indicates that being obese could increase a person’s risk for atrial fibrillation, the most common irregular heart rhythm, by 50 percent, according to work published in the November 24 issue of JAMA.

24 Nov 2004

Being overweight or obese significantly impairs a persons' sex life

Obese people report sexual problems such as lack of desire, lack of enjoyment, avoiding sex and performance difficulty at a much higher rate than people of normal weight – in some cases, they are 25 times more likely to report problems, according to the Duke study.

16 Nov 2004

Obese and overweight men spend 3.5 times more on prescription drugs than normal-weight men

As middle-aged men’s weight goes up, so do their monthly costs for prescription drugs to treat heart disease risk factors and weight-related conditions, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2004.

8 Nov 2004

Obesity could more than double an older woman's risk of acute myelogenous leukemia

A study from the University of Minnesota Cancer Center indicates that overweight and obesity could more than double an older woman's risk of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), an often fatal cancer of the bone marrow and blood.

8 Nov 2004

Labor lasts longer for overweight or obese women

Pregnant women who are overweight or obese progress through labor more slowly than do normal weight women, according to a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

2 Nov 2004

Symptoms of heartburn and GERD are highly prevalent among obese patients

Overall, heartburn and or acid regurgitation were found among 75 percent of the morbidly obese patients, while 23 percent experienced difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) and 34 percent experienced asthma symptoms.

1 Nov 2004