Every time a person opts for fast food instead of home cooked or restaurant meals, he is significantly raising his body mass index (BMI), according to researchers whose study packed enough evidence to prove ties between frequent fast food dining and excess weight.

The report involved 3,394 young adult participants of a study on heart disease. The researchers from University of North Carolina looked closely into the participants’ consumption of fast food and traditional restaurant fare during the 7th and 10th year of the study. The incidence of eating at fastfood and traditional restaurant were compared with the participants’ BMI (ratio of weight to height) to determine if a person is underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese or morbidly obese.

While researchers didn’t find proof linking consumption of traditional restaurant fare to excess pounds, they found out eating fast food had a corresponding rise in BMI.

Based on year 7 data, researchers observed that consuming an additional fast food meal a week resulted in a 0.13 rise in BMI. Likewise, the year 10 data showed eating an additional fast food meal per week increased a participant’s BMI by 0.24. To put in a clearer picture, a 0.13 and 0.24 hike in BMI is equivalent to an extra 0.9 and 1.7 pounds for a person with a frame of 5 feet and 10 inches.

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