TEHRAN – A rapid rise of body mass index (BMI) during puberty and adolescence is linked with a risk of hypertension and diabetes in adulthood, a new study suggests.

Conducted by Shahid Beheshti Medical University’s Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences over the course of 12 years, the study reviewed the BMI changes in adolescents and their effects on hypertension and diabetes in adults.

The study suggests that the trend of change in BMI during a period of time is more important than obesity in young adults.

The speed of weight gain is also an important factor.

Those girls whose weights are increased sharply are more at risk of hypertension and diabetes in comparison with girls who suffer from obesity or the ones whose weights are increased during the time.

The early risk factors can be diagnosed in order to prevent the spread of diseases, which would be a great help to have a healthy society.

BMI in children, teens, and adults

According to Medical News Today, Body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of body size. It combines a person's weight with their height. The results of a BMI measurement can give an idea about whether a person has the correct weight for their height.

Carrying too much weight can lead to a variety of health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular problems.

In adults, BMI values are not linked to age and are the same for both sexes.

However, measuring BMI in children and teens is slightly different. Girls and boys develop at different rates and have different amounts of body fat at different ages. For this reason, BMI measurements during childhood and adolescence take age and sex into consideration.

Health professionals do not categorize children by healthy weight ranges because they change with each month of age, male and female body types change at different rates and they change as the child grows taller.

BMI is a useful tool, but it cannot identify whether a person's weight is made up of muscle or fat.

For example, an athlete with a lot of muscle tissue may have a higher BMI than a person who is not very active. But, this does not mean that the athlete is overweight or unhealthy.

In addition, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure are more likely to occur in people who have additional fat — known as visceral fat — around their middle rather than their hips.

SB/MG