Risk factors for obesity in young adults: Hispanics, African Americans and Whites in the transition years, age 16-28 years.
Previous studies have suggested that late adolescence may represent a critical period in the development of lifelong obesity, but representative prospective studies in this age group are lacking. The analytic cohort consisted of a representative sample from the United States of 11,591 Hispanic, African American, and white youths interviewed as part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Significant differences in obesity measures were observed among the six race-sex groups. Compared to whites of the same sex, the prevalence of obesity in 1981 was significantly higher among Hispanic males (12.0 vs 8.6%, P < 0.05) and African American females (14.2% vs 7.3%, P > 0.001) and lower among African American males (6.4% vs 8.6%, P > 0.005). Five-year cumulative incidence of obesity (1981-1986) was highest in Hispanic males, Hispanic females and African American females. Among those ages studied both in 1981 and in 1986, a secular trend towards increased prevalence of obesity was observed over the five-year period (10.6% in 1981, 13.6% in 1986, P > 0.0001). Multivariate analyses failed to identify behavioral or sociodemographic factors that operated similarly in all race-sex groups.
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Tufts University, Department of Community Health, Boston, MA 02111.
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Dietz
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D013690:Television; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American