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Body mass index

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The body mass index (BMI), or Quetelet index, is a controversial statistical measurement which compares a person's weight and height. Though it does not actually measure the percentage of body fat, it may be a useful tool to estimate a healthy body weight based on how tall a person is. Due to its ease of measurement and calculation, it is the most widely used diagnostic tool to identify weight problem within a population including: underweight, overweight and obesity. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing "social physics". Body mass index is defined as the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height. The formulae universally used in medicine produce a unit of measure of kg/m2. BMI can also be determined using a BMI chart, which displays BMI as a function of weight (horizontal axis) and height (vertical axis) using contour lines for different values of BMI or colours for different BMI categories.

For more information about Body mass index, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with body mass index

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BMI and waist circumference

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are well known risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but a new study reported in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation today now conclu ...


Physicians Explore Link Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Hypertension

Physicians Explore Link Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Hypertension

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Drs. William White and Pooja Luthra at the University of Connecticut Health Center are investigating a possible link between vitamin D deficiency and high blood pressure.


Study finds over 90 percent of people with gum disease are at risk for diabetes

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

The study, led by Dr. Shiela Strauss, Associate Professor of Nursing and Co-Director of the Statistics and Data Management Core for NYU's Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, examined data from 2,923 adult participants in the ...


Diabetics show alarming increase in morbid obesity

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

A Loyola University Health System study has found that one out of five Type 2 diabetics is morbidly obese -- approximately 100 pounds or more overweight.


Increased obesity hindering success at reducing heart disease risk

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The dramatic increase in overweight and obesity in adult Americans over the past 20 years has undermined public health success at reducing risk for heart disease, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's ...


Diabetes surgery summit consensus lays foundation for new field of medicine

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A first-of-its-kind consensus statement on diabetes surgery is published online today in the Annals of Surgery. The report illustrates the findings of the first international consensus conference -- Diabetes Surgery Summit ...


Nutrigenomics researchers replicate gene interaction with saturated fat

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Tufts University researchers have identified a gene-diet interaction that appears to influence body weight and have replicated their findings in three independent studies. Men and women carrying the CC genotype demonstrated ...


Students with a lower socioeconomic background benefit from daily school physical activity

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

German school students -- especially those with low socioeconomic status (SES) -- significantly improved their exercise capacity and body leanness after a year of daily physical activity classes, according to research presented ...


Patient's weight not linked to success of fibroid surgery

Medicine & Health / Other

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Obese patients are no more likely to have post-operative complications than those of average weight when undergoing robotic surgery to remove uterine fibroids, according to a study at Henry Ford Hospital.


Fat around the middle increases the risk of dementia

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Women who store fat on their waist in middle age are more than twice as likely to develop dementia when they get older, reveals a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy.


Metobolomics uncovers key indicators of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A recent metobolomics study by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond found that impaired peroxisomal oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is associated with the progression ...


Overweight children may develop back pain and spinal abnormalities

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Being overweight as a child could lead to early degeneration in the spine, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).


Depressed women can lose weight as successfully as others do

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Women with major depression were no less likely than were women without it to have successful results with a weight loss program, according to an article in the Winter 2009 Behavioral Medicine. Group Health Research Instit ...


Nevada professor devises new childhood obesity screening tools

Nevada professor devises new childhood obesity screening tools

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A University of Nevada, Reno professor who thinks the present weight management charts and screening tools for children are too difficult to understand and use has devised new, simpler charts that pediatricians ...


Are manometric findings different between the patients with erosive and nonerosive disease?

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is defined as the pathological retrograde movement of gastric contents into the esophagus. Various esophageal motility disturbances which may be important in reflux are observed in patients ...