The effect of Ramadan fasting on anthropometric and body composition of healthy adults within different time points: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors' conclusion
During Ramadan, anthropometric and body composition changes are transient and elicit only a short-term effect.
Study context
- Population
- Healthy adults; studies conducted in 21 countries between 1987 and 2024
- Participants
- 2,857 adults54 studies
- Comparison
- Before vs during and after Ramadan fasting
- Outcome
- Anthropometric and body composition parameters: weight, BMI, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), WHR, absolute fat mass (FM), fat percentage (FP), fat-free mass (FFM), total body water (TBW)
- Follow-up
- Different time points during and after RF
Methodological detailspre- and post-test design, Searched MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL Complete, ProQuest and Scopus
- Pre- and post-test design
- Searched MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL Complete, ProQuest and Scopus
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Anthropometric and body composition · during and after RF
- Significant reduction in weight and BMI, starting within the second and third week of Ramadan fasting (RF), peaking in the first week after RF, gradually returning to pre-Ramadan value in the weeks afterward
- Waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) significantly alleviated within the last week of RF, and the first week post-RF for HC
- Significant but small reduction of absolute fat mass (FM) and fat percentage (FP) within the third and fourth week of RF
- Fat-free mass (FFM) and total body water (TBW) not affected
Original publication
The effect of Ramadan fasting on anthropometric and body composition of healthy adults within different time points: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Obes (Lond). Published 12 April 2025. doi:10.
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