---
title: Does higher body weight and body fat relate to worse PMS symptoms?
description: Yes. Higher BMI, body fat percentage, and abdominal fat all correlated with both physical and psychological PMS symptoms. Abdominal fat was the strongest pred
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-correlation-between-some-body-composition-indices-and-premenstrual-syndrome-2018/
---

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- Does higher body weight and body fat relate to worse PMS symptoms?

Survey study, 2018

# Does higher body weight and body fat relate to worse PMS symptoms?

Yes. Higher BMI, body fat percentage, and abdominal fat all correlated with both physical and psychological PMS symptoms. Abdominal fat was the strongest predictor.

 Moderate study design

60 female students aged 18-25 at Shiraz University, Iran, with regular menstrual cycles

## What they did

Cross-sectional study of 60 female university students aged 18-25. Participants completed a menstrual symptoms questionnaire and had measurements taken for weight, height, body fat percentage, and abdominal fat. Researchers analyzed the correlation between these measurements and PMS symptoms.

## What they found

Significant positive correlation between BMI and physical symptoms (P = 0.045) and psychological symptoms (P = 0.024), between body fat percentage and physical symptoms (P = 0.019) and psychological symptoms (P = 0.023), and between abdominal fat and physical symptoms (P = 0.017) and psychological symptoms (P = 0.049). Abdominal fat was the most important predictor of PMS symptoms.

## What it means for you

Higher body weight and fat may be related to worse PMS, but this does not prove that losing weight will help. The study involved a small group of young women at one university in Iran, so results may not apply widely. This is correlation, not proof of causation.

60

female students

18-25

age range in years

p = 0.017

strongest abdominal fat correlation

## About the study

Original title The Correlation Between Some Body Composition Indices and Premenstrual Syndrome in Young Females Authors Ensieh Shahrjooye Haghighi, Maryam Koushkie Jahromi Journal Women’s Health Bulletin Year 2018 Study design Survey study Participants 60 What was tested None - observational study Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.5812/whb.83750](https://doi.org/10.5812/whb.83750)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-pcos/)[Thyroid disorders](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-thyroid/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)

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