For the first blog of 2026, we’re highlighting five new entries to the Top 10 most read BMJ Open papers in January 2026 compared with December 2025. The Top 10 is compiled based on full-text views, including downloads of the full article PDFs. Read more about these articles below.

Claiming the number one spot in January was a cross-sectional study by Rafi et al., investigating the differences in obesity prevalence and factors associated with obesity risk among adult men and women in Bangladesh. The authors found that obesity prevalence was higher in women than men. However, socioeconomic factors such as education, wealth, and urban residence, whilst associated with obesity in both men and women, showed a stronger association with men.

The third most read paper was a protocol for a randomised controlled trial nested within the S. aureus Network Adaptive Platform (SNAP) trial by McDonald et al. This multi-country trial aims to evaluate the potential for dabigatran, an oral direct thrombin inhibitor, to improve outcomes in adult patients with S. aureus bacteremia compared with oral factor Xa inhibitors.

At number five was a four-year prospective cohort study by Prashar et al. characterising the long term recovery trajectory of individuals with long COVID in a specialised long-term COVID service based in London, UK. During follow-up, only one third of individuals achieved satisfactory recovery, defined as feeling >75% of best health. COVID-19 vaccination before infection was associated with improved time to recovery, whilst symptoms including severity of fatigue, myalgia, and brain fog may be key prognostic markers for long COVID. Their results highlight the importance of dedicated specialist services in treating individuals with long COVID. 

Another new entry to the Top 10 most read list was a 10-year prospective cohort study by McNestry et al.  examining the association between breastfeeding and depression and anxiety in women of later reproductive age (mid 30s to menopause) at a tertiary maternity hospital in Dublin, Ireland. The authors found that women reporting depression and anxiety over the 10-year study period were less likely to have breastfed, and had shorter durations of any breastfeeding over their lifetime. These results strengthen recommendations that breastfeeding is the optimal infant feeding method for mother and baby.

Finally, a protocol for an international, prospective cohort study by Schuch et al. also entered the most read list. The study aims to investigate the associations between a wide range of lifestyle behaviours and mental health symptoms in university students over a 3.5 year period, including students from 69 universities across 28 different countries.