BMI

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US Obesity 'Is at a Crisis Point'
US Obesity 'Is at a Crisis Point'
NEW STUDY
Nov 15, 2024 6:28 AM CST

US Obesity 'Is at a Crisis Point'

More than 40% of adults and 29% of young girls and women are obese, study finds

(Newser) - "Obesity is at a crisis point throughout the USA," according to researchers who tracked obesity rates nationwide, per CTV News . Almost three-quarters of US adults over 25 are overweight or obese, up from just over half in 1990, while nearly half of those aged 15 to 24 are,...

Docs Push Back on New Guidelines for Obese Kids

USPSTF says kids, teens with high BMI should get intensive counseling; critics say that's a big ask

(Newser) - A panel of US health experts is urging more aggressive moves to fight childhood obesity, including a recommendation for intensive counseling. On Tuesday, the US Preventive Services Task Force released guidelines in JAMA that suggest "comprehensive, intensive behavioral interventions" for children and teens 6 years of age and older...

American Medical Association: This Health Metric Is Racist
AMA: BMI Metric Has
Caused 'Historical Harm'
in case you missed it
Jun 18, 2023 12:15 PM CDT

AMA: BMI Metric Has Caused 'Historical Harm'

American Medical Association says body mass index as a tool is not only inaccurate, but racist

(Newser) - There's long been pushback on using body mass index, or BMI, as a health gauge. Critics say the metric—which claims to measure body fat simply by carrying out a calculation involving one's height and weight—might assign the same BMI to a person who has a lot...

This Is How Much the Average American Weighs
This Is How Much the
Average American Weighs
in case you missed it
Dec 23, 2018 2:04 PM CST

This Is How Much the Average American Weighs

197.9 pounds for men, 170.6 pounds for women—30 pounds more than in the early '60s

(Newser) - Everyone might want to get a head start on their New Year's resolutions to shed a few pounds. Per CNN , a new report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics shows Americans are shrinking—the average height for men (5-9) and women (5-4) decreased slightly from 1999-2000...

Internet Raises Eyebrow at Trump's Height, Weight
Internet Raises Eyebrow
at Trump's Height, Weight
the rundown
Jan 17, 2018 7:42 AM CST

Internet Raises Eyebrow at Trump's Height, Weight

And the term 'girther' is born

(Newser) - That President Trump requested and aced a cognitive exam as part of his first physical as president isn't the detail that's being pored over by the internet. That honor goes to Navy doctor Ronny Jackson's detailing of Trump's height and weight, which Jackson reports as 6-foot-3...

Want Lower BMI? Smoke Pot


Want Lower BMI?
Pot Might Help
NEW STUDY
Sep 19, 2016 11:41 AM CDT

Want Lower BMI? Pot Might Help

Daily marijuana use linked to lower body mass for both women and men

(Newser) - People who smoke weed on a daily basis tend to have slightly lower body mass indexes than people who don't, and while researchers say they're not suggesting that people take up regular marijuana smoking, they're keen to understand the mechanism at play. Specifically, they followed more than...

The Potential Issue With 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' Parenting

'Nicer' parent may not be able to compensate for the 'meaner' one

(Newser) - When a child has an overbearing parent, it's bound to be stressful, and it may even spur a "good cop, bad cop" dynamic between parents. But a new study published in Social Science and Medicine suggests that not only is such severe parenting linked to an increased risk...

8th-Grader Refuses to Share Her 'Perfect' BMI
 8th-Grader 
 Refuses to 
 Share Her 
 'Perfect' BMI 
in case you missed it
Apr 9, 2016 9:40 AM CDT

8th-Grader Refuses to Share Her 'Perfect' BMI

She instead pens an essay arguing the index is outdated

(Newser) - An Indiana 8th-grader's refusal to complete a school project as assigned is making headlines . The unnamed girl was asked to calculate her body mass index and give the definition for BMI , which is found by multiplying one's weight by 703 and dividing by squared height in inches. But...

Your Size Predicts How Much You Earn

 Your Size Predicts 
 How Much You Earn 
STUDY SAYS
Mar 9, 2016 12:15 PM CST

Your Size Predicts How Much You Earn

Short men, overweight women are at a disadvantage: study

(Newser) - Bad news for short men and overweight women: You have "reduced chances in life" when it comes to income, education, and job prospects, the Washington Post reports via a new study in the British Medical Journal . University of Exeter researchers analyzed how genetic variants related to height and BMI...

Millions of Obese Americans Are Actually 'Quite Healthy'

'This should be a final nail in the coffin for BMI'

(Newser) - A new study finds that more than 50 million "quite healthy" Americans have been mislabeled as obese or overweight thanks to an over-reliance on BMI as a measurement of health, the Los Angeles Times reports. “This should be a final nail in the coffin for BMI,” says...

The Slightly Fat Live Longer
 The Slightly Fat Live Longer 
STUDY SAYS
Jan 2, 2013 4:33 AM CST

The Slightly Fat Live Longer

But quality of life not as good, experts warn

(Newser) - Being obese is likely to take years off your life, but those who are just a bit overweight actually appear to have a lower risk of premature death than those of normal weight, according to a startling new study. Researchers crunched the numbers on studies involving nearly 3 million people...

Just 3% of Americans Have 'Ideal' Heart Health

On the flip side, only 10% have 'poor' cardiovascular health

(Newser) - How's this for a gloomy stat? Only 3% of Americans have "ideal" heart health, according to a new report from the American Heart Association . Using data collected on 350,000 Americans in 2009, it gathered info on seven major heart-health factors it identified: blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, BMI,...

Unnatural Sleep Schedules Can Make You Fat

People who disrupt biological clocks have higher BMIs

(Newser) - Your alarm clock could be making you flabby, suggests new research. People who force themselves to maintain schedules that are different from their natural sleep routines are more likely to put on the pounds, reports LiveScience . Researchers collected data from more than 65,000 Europeans and found that for every...

BMI Says You're Not Obese? Well, You Might Be Anyway

New study suggests new, pricier procedure to determine obesity

(Newser) - Feeling pretty good about yourself because, according to your BMI, you're not obese? Well, a new study finds that you may have reason to worry after all: Researchers used a new, and supposedly more accurate, standard for detecting obesity—a person's ratio of fat to lean muscle mass—...

How Sweet It Is: Chocolate Lovers Are Leaner
 Chocolate Lovers Are ... Leaner 
study says
Mar 27, 2012 4:56 AM CDT

Chocolate Lovers Are ... Leaner

Compounds may fight weight gain

(Newser) - Sweet news: People who regularly eat chocolate tend to be thinner, scientists have discovered. Of 1,000 subjects studied, those who ate chocolate a few times a week were on average slimmer than those who only ate it occasionally, reports the BBC . Frequency of eating chocolate appeared to be more...

Michigan to Track Kids' Weight in State Registry

Doctors will have to report BMI stats of young patients

(Newser) - Michigan is getting aggressive on childhood obesity: Under a new initiative, doctors will be required to report kids' body weight and BMI stats to a state registry, the AP reports. The children's identity would remain anonymous, but the move could still trigger concerns about privacy or the government overstepping...

5 Not-So-Obvious Reasons We're Fat

Looking beyond lack of willpower

(Newser) - The number of overweight Americans keeps, umm, ballooning, but why? LiveScience looks past self-control issues and too little exercise to some less-discussed factors. So many of us are fat because of:
  1. The government: 29 million Americans instantly became overweight in 1998 when the government lowered the overweight threshold from a
...

More Than 10% of Planet's Adults Obese

Study also find US has highest BMI among high-income countries

(Newser) - Almost half a billion adults—10% of the adult population worldwide—were obese as of 2008, a new study finds. That’s nearly twice the 1980 rate, reports Scientific American . On average, each decade has seen a body mass index inch up 0.4 to an average of 23.8...

Japanese Women Are Skinny, Think They're Fat

Media ideal and stiff competition leads to wacky body image

(Newser) - “I think I am very fat,” a 40-year-old Japanese woman of normal weight whose BMI is verging on “thin” tells the Wall Street Journal , and that’s the story all over the island nation. Japan continues to be the thinnest industrialized nation, and its women have gotten...

You Can Be Thin and Obese
 You Can Be Thin and Obese 
Jan 26, 2010 8:18 AM CST

You Can Be Thin and Obese

Study shows you can be 'obese' at a normal weight

(Newser) - You don't have to look fat to be fat, a new study suggests. A report from the Mayo Clinic finds that people of a normal weight with a high percentage of body fat are at greater risk for heart problems than those with lower fat. In cases of "normal...

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