Modern approaches to the calculation of ideal body weight and the association of its changes with digestive system diseases

Abstract

Background. There has been growing interest in the relationship between body mass and digestive diseases. There is no consensus on the calculation of the ideal human weight and the effect of its changes on gastrointestinal diseases. Materials and methods. The Internet resources (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, and others) were analyzed for the period 1980–2020. Results. Various proposed formulas for diagnosing the ideal human weight are presented. The comparison of modern different methods to estimate body composition was done. The possibilities and benefits of using of bioelectrical impedance analysis were presented. The pros and cons of dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) for body composition assessment was described. The relationship between body mass and digestive diseases was presented. Overweight and obesity was shown to be associated with the development of diseases of the digestive system: functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, inflammatory bowel disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett’s esophagus, esophageal cancer, polyposis and colon cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, gallstone disease, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and others. Conclusions. There are some associations between body mass and digestive diseases. Patient’s weight gain or loss may indirectly indicate the presence of gastrointestinal pathology, which must be taken into account by the clinician for diagnostic approach.