---
title: Do body size and shape affect how often women have PMS symptoms?
description: Yes, women with overweight or obesity and apple-shaped bodies reported PMS symptoms more frequently than underweight or rectangular-shaped women.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/physical-psychological-and-behavioral-symptoms-of-premenstrual-syndrome-in-2025/
---

- [Niyora](https://niyora.com/)
- [Research](https://niyora.com/research/)
- [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/)
- Do body size and shape affect how often women have PMS symptoms?

Survey study, 2025

# Do body size and shape affect how often women have PMS symptoms?

Yes, women with overweight or obesity and apple-shaped bodies reported PMS symptoms more frequently than underweight or rectangular-shaped women.

 Moderate study design

6,697 women aged 18-30

## What they did

Cross-sectional questionnaire study of 6,697 women aged 18-30 about 22 common PMS symptoms, using a 5-point scale. Women also reported their height, weight, and body shape using five silhouette types.

## What they found

PMS symptom prevalence ranged from 61.0% to 97.2%. Overweight or obese women had the highest symptom frequency (mean 3.20-3.35 on the scale), while underweight and rectangular-shaped women had the lowest (2.98-3.25). Physical symptoms occurred less often (mean 3.12) than psychological and behavioral symptoms (mean 3.29).

## What it means for you

Body size and shape are associated with PMS symptom frequency, with heavier women and apple-shaped bodies reporting more symptoms. However, this is observational, so we cannot say whether weight loss would reduce symptoms. Findings apply only to women aged 18-30.

6,697

women studied

61.0-97.2%

symptom prevalence range

3.20-3.35

symptom frequency in overweight/obese

## About the study

Original title Physical, Psychological, and Behavioral Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome in Relation to Body Size and Shape Authors Tutkuviene J, Gervickaite S, Sveikataite M et al. Journal American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council Year 2025 Study design Survey study Participants 6,697 What was tested None - this was an observational questionnaire study Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70169](https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70169)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

## Related studies

Randomised trial, 2026

Does aerobic or resistance exercise reduce anxiety in women with PMS?

Cohort study, 2025

How common is PMS in Chinese teenage girls, and what factors are linked to it?

Systematic review, 2025

Does alcohol use affect menstrual health in teenage girls?

Systematic review, 2025

Does teaching adolescent girls about their menstrual cycle and health help reduce period pain and PMS?

Randomised trial, 2024

Does curcumin-piperine combination improve antioxidant activity in women with PMS and period pain?

Systematic review, 2024

How common is premenstrual syndrome in Africa, and what factors increase the risk?

Ask AI about this page

Copy prompt

ChatGPT

↗

Claude

↗

Perplexity

↗

Google AI Mode

↗

Grok

↗