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.
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
Topics
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