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.

New study confirms benefits of rimonabant in weight loss

Phase III clinical study comparing placebo to rimonabant, the first agent in a new therapeutic class known as selective cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) blockers, showed that overweight or obese people taking rimonabant 20mg once daily benefited from a significant reduction in their body weight

29 Aug 2004

Parents, teens underestimating weight

Obese teenagers and their parents often underestimate their weight, making them less likely to seek help or adopt a healthier lifestyle, an RMIT University study has found.

6 Aug 2004

Children and adolescents who consistently watch television for 2 hours or more a day are at an increased risk of being overweight

Children and adolescents who consistently watch television for 2 hours or more a day are at an increased risk of being overweight, to smoke, and to have high cholesterol concentrations in early adulthood—substantial risk factors for long-term health problems in later life—conclude authors of a study from New Zealand in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

15 Jul 2004

Obese people who undergo Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery show declines in levels of ghrelin hormone that stimulates appetite

This finding possibly explains, the loss of hunger sensation and rapid weight loss observed following gastric bypass. The study has been published in the July issue of The Archives of Surgery.

13 Jul 2004

Confirmation of what we all suspected, electronic gaming is making kids fat

A new study adds to the evidence that sedentary behaviors are linked to childhood obesity and sheds light on the world-wide dimension of the problem.

30 Jun 2004

Sports medicine may help the national fight against pediatric obesity

Physicians and coaches can evaluate the effectiveness of methods widely used to measure body composition and predict the minimum weight an athlete should maintain.

23 Jun 2004

Staying stress free in your twenties reduces high blood pressure risk later on

Avoiding stress in your 20's could reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure in middle age, according to a report in today's issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

22 Jun 2004

Novel findings on treatments for childhood obesity and early polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in young girls

New research findings presented this week in New Orleans during ENDO 2004, the 86th Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society, could help keep kids healthier.

16 Jun 2004

Joint initiative to tackle cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke

Three of the nation’s leading not-for-profit health agencies today announced a joint initiative to empower Americans to help lower their risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke by following a single set of recommendations.

16 Jun 2004

Overweight children and obese adults remain a major public health concern

According to background information in the article, "The prevalence of overweight and obesity is considered an important public health issue in the United States. Healthy People 2010 identified overweight and obesity as one of the 10 leading health indicators."

15 Jun 2004

Survey finds over 60% of clinically obese women began dieting before 14

A University of California, Berkeley-led survey of women defined as clinically obese shows that nearly two-thirds of them went on their first diet before age 14 and, as adults, were more likely to be heavier than women who started dieting after age 14.

10 Jun 2004

Obesity affects women's employment success

Obesity contributes to various chronic medical problems, but new research on current and former welfare recipients indicates that obesity also affects women's employment success.

27 May 2004

Women who are overweight or obese are more likely to receive a false-positive result on mammography screenings

Women who are overweight or obese are more likely to receive a false-positive result on mammography screenings than normal weight and underweight women, according to an article in the May 24 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

24 May 2004

Obese women more likely to have pregnancy complications and caesarean sections than women of average weight

The controlled study is one of the largest ever to look at obesity in pregnancy, following more than 16,000 pregnant women at 14 medical centers across the country.

20 May 2004

Dietary supplement reduces body fat mass in overweight adults by as much as nine percent

A study to be published in the June issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concludes that the dietary supplement, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), reduces body fat mass in overweight, but otherwise healthy, adults by as much as nine percent.

20 May 2004

Comparison study shows low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet loses more weight than low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie diet

People who followed a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet lost more weight than people on a low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie diet during a six-month comparison study at Duke University Medical Center. However, the researchers caution that people with medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure should not start the diet without close medical supervision.

19 May 2004

Body size is a major predictor of high blood pressure

Body size is a major predictor of high blood pressure in both blacks and whites but racial differences may affect the association of weight and blood pressure, according to study results presented at the American Society of Hypertension’s Nineteenth Annual Scientific Meeting.

19 May 2004

Obesity epidemic and its impact on prostate cancer

Recent federal reports have identified obesity as epidemic in the United States, and that that greater body mass index can be associated with a number of debilitating health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes.

12 May 2004

Overweight post prostate cancer surgery patients have greater chance of cancer recurrence

After prostate cancer surgery, obese men are more likely than men with normal weight to have high levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), a marker for cancer recurrence, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.

9 May 2004

Blood pressure levels on rise among American children and teenagers

Systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels for children and teenagers have risen substantially since 1988, according to a new study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study links part of the rise to a concurrent increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity.

4 May 2004