Community-Based BMI Screening for Overweight and Obesity in Adults Aged 35 Years and Older in Malaysia: Regression Discontinuity Analysis
This study is the first to assess the causal effects of population-based BMI screening on long-term health outcomes in a Southeast Asian population. The findings suggest that merely informing individuals of their overweight or obese status and implementing light-touch interventions are insufficient to significantly reduce BMI or drive sustained behavior change. Nonetheless, the results do not exclude the possibility of short-term effects, and more frequent or sustained light-touch interventions may still be effective. Future studies should design more intensive interventions and include larger sample sizes.
Authors
- Till Bärnighausen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4182-4212)
- Roshidi Ismail (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0698-7964)
- Zhoutao Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0872-6523)
- Pascal Geldsetzer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8878-5505)
- Shiyu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2988-5781)
- Simiao Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0555-2157)
- Tin Tin Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0387-6406)
- Chen Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7857-5435)
- Wenjin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8506-2701)
Institutions
- Monash University Malaysia (MY)
- Harvard University (US)
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CN)
- Africa Health Research Institute (ZA)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
- Published
- 2025-12-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2196/80381
- Primary Topic
- Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00