MedWire News: Underweight and obese people are more likely to suffer from severe headaches and migraines than their normal-weight counterparts, US research shows.
Dr Earl Ford, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia and team explain that around 12% of people in the USA suffer from severe headaches and migraine, which significantly reduces their productivity at work and quality of life.
They add: "Given the rapid increase in obesity in the USA, a possible link between obesity and headaches is of considerable interest and would suggest new avenues for reducing the public health burden of headaches."
To investigate whether body mass index is associated with severe headaches and migraine, the researchers studied data on 7601 men and women, aged at least 20 years, who participated in a national health and nutrition survey conducted between 1999 and 2002.
Analysis revealed that 34% of underweight people with a body mass index of less than 18.5 kg/m2, 21% of overweight people with a body mass index of 25-29.9 kg/m2 and 26% of obese patients with a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher had suffered from severe headaches or migraines in the previous 3 months.
In contrast, just 19% or normal weight participants with a body mass index of 18.5-24.9 kg/m2 had suffered from such headaches in the previous 3-month period.
After accounting for age, gender and other factors, the researchers calculated that, compared with normal-weight people, underweight people were around twice as likely to suffer from severe headaches and migraines and obese participants were 1.37 times more likely to suffer from such headaches.
"We found that the prevalence of severe headaches or migraines was higher among both underweight and obese participants than among those with a body mass index in the normal range," Dr Ford and team summarise in the journal Cephalalgia.
They add: "If obesity increases the risk for headaches, weight management might be a useful approach in headache management."