PARIS– Cardiovascular disease linked to obesity may be worse than thought while health problems associated with being underweight may have been overstated, according to a study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on Wednesday.
The paper, written by doctors in Britain and Sweden, seeks to fine-tune a well-known tool — the body mass index (BMI) — which is used to measure obesity and ill-health.
BMI entails taking one’s weight in kilos and dividing it by the square of one’s height, in meters. A BMI of 25-30 is generally considered overweight while a figure of above 30 indicates obesity.
Previous studies have already found a big link between BMI and higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers.
In contrast, a low BMI — in other words, people who are very skinny — is associated with increased mortality from respiratory disease and lung cancer.
But many experts have questioned the findings about low BMI, arguing that the figures could be skewed by something called reverse causality.
For instance, diseases such as lung cancer, which cause weight loss, are being factored in as low BMI, they argue. And smoking and poor socioeconomic circumstances may also cause bias.
Seeking to find out more, specialists from Britain’s University of Bristol and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden set out to get a wider view of the BMI benchmark.
They measured BMI and mortality among more than a million pairs of Swedes, comprising mother-and-son pairs and father-and-son pairs, over 50 years.
They found strong patterns of mortality and BMI.
The link was especially noticeable in cardiovascular disease — for which prevailing estimates may be “substantially underestimated” — as well as diabetes and kidney cancer.
But there was no evidence of an association between low BMI and an increased risk of respiratory disease and lung cancer mortality.
The findings are important, because they imply that obesity programs could yield major health benefits, says the study.
“Suggestions to the contrary are probably misguided,” it adds. –Agence France-Presse
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
