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New research suggests a simple tape-measure check could help identify excess body fat

• A Rutgers study found that waist circumference performed nearly as well as more complicated methods for identifying excess body fat.

• BMI alone missed a substantial number of people who met the studys criteria for obesity based on body-fat measurements.

• Researchers say measuring waist circumference could offer a practical way to identify potential health risks in routine care.

For years, body mass index (BMI) has been one of the main tools used to identify obesity. But BMI has a notable limitation: It doesnt fully account for differences in body composition or where someone carries their body fat.

New research from Rutgers Health suggests that a much simpler measurement may provide useful information. In a study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers found that waist circumference alone performed nearly as well as a more complicated approach that uses several measurements to identify excess body fat.

That could make the humble measuring tape a surprisingly useful tool in healthcare. Researchers say waist measurements are relatively easy to obtain and could help clinicians and patients identify potential health risks earlier.

Pay attention to the need to loosen your belt or get bigger pants, researcher Aayush Visaria said in a news release.

Although clothing size isnt the same as a proper waist circumference measurement, it can be an early sign of unhealthy amounts of body fat. Measuring your waist, along with your weight, can help identify health risks earlier and provide an opportunity to reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

How the study worked

Researchers analyzed data from 1,900 U.S. adults between the ages of 20 and 59 who participated in the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. All participants had undergone whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DEXA, scans, which researchers used as the reference for measuring body fat.

For the study, obesity based on total body fat was defined as at least 25% body fat in males and 35% in females. The researchers then compared five different ways of identifying obesity: BMI alone, waist circumference alone, BMI or waist circumference, and two versions of a newer framework that incorporates multiple body measurements.

The more complex framework includes measurements such as waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, and waist-to-hip ratio. Researchers wanted to see whether all those measurements actually provided a meaningful advantage over simpler approaches.

What researchers found

The results favored simplicity. Waist circumference alone had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.815, compared with 0.818 for the BMI-or-waist-circumference approach. The researchers said waist circumference captured most of the diagnostic information across the comparisons.

BMI alone, meanwhile, performed substantially worse. Its sensitivity was 51.3%, compared with 71.4% for waist circumference alone. In practical terms, that means BMI alone missed a considerable number of people who met the studys body-fat criteria for obesity.

The researchers say the findings could help inform future obesity-screening recommendations and support broader use of waist measurements in routine healthcare.

For consumers, the takeaway isnt that BMI should simply be ignored. Rather, the study suggests that looking at waist circumference alongside other measures may provide a more complete picture than relying on BMI alone.

Our findings show that you dont necessarily need multiple complex measurements to identify obesity-related health risks, said Visaria. A waist measurement provides much of the information needed and is feasible for clinicians and patients alike.

New research finds short bursts of intense exercise can trigger changes that moderate workouts may not

• Three minutes of all-out sprinting changed nearly a quarter of the blood proteins researchers measured immediately afterward.

• The sprint workout also triggered changes in more than 200 metabolites and affected how fat cells behaved.

• Many of the proteins affected by sprinting were associated with lower risks of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in a much larger health database.

If the idea of spending 90 minutes on an exercise bike sounds exhausting, new research offers an interesting reason to pay attention to workout intensity not just workout length.

Scientists at The Rockefeller University found that a few minutes of all-out sprinting produced a much larger immediate change in the bloodstream than a longer session of moderate exercise.

The researchers were interested in understanding how different types of exercise affect the molecules that help organs communicate with one another. These molecules, including proteins and metabolites released into the bloodstream during exercise, may help explain some of the body's health-related responses to physical activity.

Researchers compared sprints with longer workouts

For one part of the study, researchers analyzed blood samples from 19 young, active, metabolically healthy men.

Ten completed a sprint-interval workout consisting of six 30-second, all-out cycling sessions, with four minutes of recovery between each. The other nine completed 90 minutes of continuous cycling at moderate intensity. Blood was collected before exercise, immediately afterward, and three hours later.

The researchers also looked at participants before and after an eight-week exercise-training period. In a separate group, they examined how moderate-intensity treadmill running affected blood proteins.

Additional experiments involved exposing human fat cells to blood collected after exercise to see how the cells responded.

The results point to exercise intensity

The differences were striking. Immediately after the sprint workout, nearly one-quarter of the proteins measured had changed, compared with fewer than one-quarter of 1% after 90 minutes of moderate cycling.

Sprinting also changed more than 200 metabolites and produced an immediate increase in proteins involved in processes including blood-vessel growth, tissue remodeling, and hormonal signaling.

Blood collected after sprinting also caused extensive changes in gene activity when it was applied to human fat cells, including changes related to how the cells process fuel and respond to hormones. Moderate cycling produced much smaller changes in the fat cells.

Whats exciting here is that just a few minutes of intense exercise can trigger a significant molecular response, researcher Paul Cohen said in a news release And we still see it after eight weeks of training, which tells us this response isnt simply a product of the body struggling to keep up with unfamiliar stress. It may be that the responses we observed are intrinsic to intense exercise.

The researchers then compared the exercise-responsive proteins with health information from more than 53,000 people in the U.K. Biobank. Of 33 proteins associated with a lower risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic conditions, 32 were changed by sprinting, compared with three after moderate exercise. More than a quarter of the proteins were also associated with slower biological aging.

Its well appreciated that different intensities of exercise stimulate distinct body-wide adaptations, researcher Luke Olsen said in the news release.

However, the molecular mechanisms linking these intensity-dependent adaptations have remained largely elusive. Our work suggests that exerkinesproteins and metabolites released into the bloodstream following exerciseare highly sensitive to exercise intensity and may be the key mediators of the health-promoting effects of short bursts of vigorous exercise.

Four lounges will debut in 2027, with at least seven more locations planned

• Southwest is opening its first-ever airport lounges: Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu, and Nashville will get the first locations in late 2027.

• A new premium credit card will include lounge access: But Southwest hasn't revealed the card's annual fee or whether travelers will have other ways to get in.

• This is just the beginning: At least seven additional lounges are planned as Southwest continues its shift toward a more premium flying experience.

Southwest Airlines is checking another item off the traditional-airline checklist: airport lounges.

The airline announced Wednesday that it will launch its first-ever airport lounge network, starting with locations in Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu, and Nashville.

The first lounges are expected to open in late 2027, and Southwest says it's already thinking bigger. At least seven additional locations are planned over the next several years, potentially giving Southwest a network of 11 or more lounges.

Here's what we know so far.

Where are the lounges going?

The first four locations will be at the following airports:

• Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)

• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)

• Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu (HNL)

• Nashville International Airport (BNA)

Southwest says construction is already underway at all four airports.

The airline hasn't revealed the other seven-plus airports being considered for future lounges.

Here's one way you'll get in

Southwest is partnering with Chase to develop the lounges, combining the airline's brand with elements of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge Network.

Along with the lounges, Chase will introduce a new premium Rapid Rewards credit card in 2027 that includes lounge access.

But some important details are still missing. Southwest hasn't announced the card's annual fee or provided complete details about other ways travelers may be able to enter.

That means we don't yet know whether travelers will be able to buy a day pass or gain access through certain tickets, elite status, or other premium credit cards.

Pro tip: Don't apply for a new Southwest card solely for lounge access until the annual fee and complete access rules are announced. Once they are, divide the annual fee by the number of times you realistically expect to use a lounge each year to help determine whether the perk is worth it.

What will be inside?

Southwest isn't revealing every detail yet, but says travelers can expect food and beverages inspired by the cities where the lounges are located.

There will also be spaces designed for travelers to work, recharge, and relax before their flights.

The partnership with Chase is also worth watching. Chase already operates Sapphire lounges at several airports, so Southwest travelers could end up with an experience considerably more upscale than what they've traditionally associated with the airline.

Exact amenities, lounge sizes, and operating hours haven't been announced.

This is a very different Southwest

The lounges are perhaps most interesting because of what they say about the direction Southwest is heading.

The airline built its reputation by doing things differently from traditional carriers. But recently, Southwest has increasingly added features that look more like its competitors.

It ditched its famous open-seating system and began flying with assigned seats in January 2026. It now sells extra-legroom seating and uses a new boarding process.

Rapid Rewards members also receive free inflight Wi-Fi, and Southwest has begun installing Starlink across its fleet.

Now it's getting airport lounges.

For travelers who want a more premium experience, many of those changes could be welcome. But the value of Southwest's new lounges will ultimately come down to how much getting through the door will cost you.

Until Southwest and Chase reveal the annual fee for the new premium card and whether there will be other ways to enter, travelers shouldn't put a dollar value on this new perk just yet.

The unusually cheap price spread quickly online as shoppers searched for relief from historically high beef prices

• Amazon dropped ground beef to $1.99 a pound: The deal was about 71% below the July national average of $6.89 per pound.

• Shoppers quickly jumped on it: The bargain spread on deal sites including Slickdeals, and some shoppers were already reporting it unavailable in their areas by Aug. 28.

• It could come back: Amazon also sold tens of thousands of packages at $1.99 in July, suggesting the late-August promotion may not have been a one-time deal.

At a time when a pound of ground beef can easily cost $6 or $7, Amazon started selling it for $1.99.

Then word got around.

Amazon's 80/20 Amazon Grocery ground beef was offered for $1.99 per one-pound package in select markets, a price that quickly caught the attention of online deal hunters in late August.

The deal spread on sites including Slickdeals, where shoppers reported buying the maximum five packages and sharing the bargain with others.

It didn't take long for availability to become spotty.

Some shoppers were already reporting the beef was unavailable in their areas on Aug. 28, while others could still order it in places including South Florida and Ohio.

The product is now listed as unavailable on Amazon.

But this wasn't necessarily a one-weekend wonder.

Amazon was selling a lot of $1.99/lb beef

Third-party Amazon sales data from ASINsight shows the exact Amazon Grocery product sold for $1.99 during July. And shoppers apparently loved it.

ASINsight estimates Amazon sold about 70,000 one-pound packages in July alone, making it the top-selling listing in its Amazon burger-and-patty category for the month.

Then came the late-August promotion.

Slickdeals listed the beef at $1.99, down from $5.99, for Prime members in select locations. Shoppers could buy up to five packages, and the promotion was scheduled to run through Aug. 30.

But availability varied dramatically by location as shoppers jumped on the deal.

Just how cheap was $1.99?

Very cheap. The average U.S. price for a pound of ground beef reached about $6.89 in July, according to federal data.

That means Amazon's $1.99 price was about 71% below the national average.

At those prices, five pounds would cost:

• National average: $34.45

• Amazon: $9.95

That's nearly $25 in savings. No wonder shoppers took notice.

Why would Amazon sell beef this cheap?

The pricing resembles an old retail strategy known as a loss leader. That's when a retailer prices one product unusually low to attract shoppers in hopes they'll buy other things while they're there.

That doesn't necessarily mean Amazon lost money on every package, as we don't know what Amazon paid for the beef. But supermarkets have used this strategy for decades with things like cheap Thanksgiving turkeys, milk, and other staples.

Amazon's version has another advantage: You don't even have to leave your couch.

The company says Prime members in more than 2,300 U.S. cities and towns can now order perishable groceries through Same-Day Delivery.

Will the $1.99 beef come back?

Possibly, but there's obviously no guarantee.

The latest deal has ended, and the one-pound package is currently unavailable. But considering Amazon sold tens of thousands of packages at $1.99 in July and brought the price back in late August, it's worth watching.

If it returns, don't be surprised if it disappears quickly again.