ArticleThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2025
BMI or not to BMI? debating the value of body mass index as a measure of health in adults.
Article in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Extracellular vesicle microRNAs in breastmilk of mothers with overweight and obesity: a systematic review.Pediatric research · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Gender-based violence and women's nutrition: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Research priorities for psychosocial interventions in obesity care: Outcomes from a Canadian research summit.Obesity pillars · 2026Article
- Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: Individually Tailored Dietary Interventions in Modern Obesity Care.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Article
- Multivariable Associations of Anthropometric and Psychosocial Markers with an Elevated Abdominal Volume Index Among University Students: A Sex- and Academic Program-Stratified Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Impact of CT-assessed sarcopenia on the severity of odontogenic deep neck infections: a retrospective cohort study.Odontology · 2026Article
- Global Variability in Children and Adolescent Metabolic Bariatric Surgery Guidelines: A Worldwide IFSO Survey.Obesity surgery · 2026Article
- Serum profile of IL-29, IL-41, and raftlin in microvascular complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Associations of novel adiposity indices with gynecological cancer risk among adult women: Evidence from NHANES 2011 to 2018.Medicine · 2026Article
- Obesity's Role in Stroke Incidence Among Smokers:Saudi medical journal · 2026Article
- Comparing multiple definitions of obesity in a large nationwide health program.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Predictive Effects of Waist Circumference-Related Anthropometric Measures on Body Mass Index in South African University Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Expert consensus on multidisciplinary management of laparoscopic-endoscopic cooperative surgery combined with sentinel lymph node navigation surgery for early gastric cancer (2026 edition).Chinese journal of cancer research = Chung-kuo yen cheng yen chiu · 2026Article
- A Mixed Methods Study to Identify Characteristics and Practices of Effective Student Health Advocates.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2026Article
- The association between higher body weight and stigmatizing language documented in hospital birth admission notes.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Article
- Weight management for chronic low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Article
- A study of mental health status and its influencing factors in normal weight obesity population.Scientific reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Body mass index (BMI) is used across public health to calculate height to weight ratio and translate into weight status. Whether BMI is appropriate as an individual- or population-level health measure for adults is debated. BMI is a cost-effective and feasible metric to establish health risk. Yet, BMI's historical underpinnings, weight categories, usefulness as clinical diagnostic measure, and application across population subgroups has called the measurement tool into question. At the annual ISBNPA meeting in June 2023, the co-authors engaged in a debate session on the topic. This paper presents the complexity of arguments for or against BMI as a measurement tool and proposes its evolution to support whole-person health.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.