Posts Tagged "BMI"

Higher fat mass and increased body mass index (BMI) adversely affected hip cartilage in women, while increases in fat-free mass were associated with beneficial cartilage changes at the hip for women and men, according to an Australian community-based study.

After adjusting for age and femoral head bone area, for every 1-unit increase in BMI, there was an associated 26 mm³ reduction in femoral head cartilage volume in women, although no such link was seen in men for BMI and femoral head cartilage volume, reported Flavia M. Cicuttini, MD, of Monash University in Melbourne, in colleagues.

The results “likely represent very early structural joint damage” given that the study population had no clinical hip disease, the investigators wrote in Arthritis Research and Therapy.  However, they added that “the mechanisms by which an increased BMI and fat mass adversely affects hip cartilage is unknown. It is possible that deleterious structural changes may in part be due to excessive loading of the hip joint caused by increased body mass. For instance, through altered joint biomechanics, obesity may remodel hip bone. In turn, abnormal bone geometry could act as an intermediary between obesity and cartilage damage.”

Source: Medpage Today

Exposure to secondhand smoke and roadway traffic may be tied to increased body mass index in children and adolescents, a new study suggests.

Researchers studied 3,318 children in 12 Southern California communities beginning at an average age of 10, and then followed them through age 18. They used parental questionnaires to establish exposure to smoking, and data on traffic volume and levels of nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulates to track pollution.

The study, in Environmental Health Perspectives, controlled for many other factors: sex, initial B.M.I., asthma, physical activity, insurance status, parental education and income, acres of parks and open space nearby, percentage of people living in poverty in each community.

But even after accounting for these issues and more, they found that compared with children exposed to no secondhand smoke or near-roadway air pollution, B.M.I. was 0.80 higher in children exposed to pollution alone, 0.85 higher in those exposed to secondhand smoke alone, and 2.15 higher in those exposed to both.

A normal B.M.I. for adults is 18.5 to 24.9. Higher than 25 is considered overweight, and above 30 obese.

“It would be interesting to know more about the mechanism,” said the lead author, Dr. Rob McConnell, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California. “But the finding challenges the view that obesity is due solely to increased caloric intake and reduced physical activity. That’s not the whole story.”

Source: New York Times