Don't children grow out of their obesity? Weight transitions in early childhood.
BACKGROUND
Expert opinion and cross-sectional analyses posit that obese young children will likely "outgrow" their obesity. However, given the nature of the US childhood obesity epidemic, this assertion may no longer hold true.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the weight transitions between early childhood (3-5 years) and midchildhood (7-10 years) in 2 different longitudinal cohorts: black preschool children from the inner city and from a nationally representative sample.


RESULTS
Weight transitions for children who were normal weight at baseline were not markedly different between cohorts. However, overweight and obese low-income black children had a very high probability of becoming or remaining overweight or obese by follow-up (>90% probability) in comparison with the nationally representative cohort (50%-60% probability).


CONCLUSIONS
Low-income black preschool children do not necessarily "outgrow" their obesity. These findings have implications for optimal timing of obesity interventions and suggest the need for an increasing focus on children during the early preschool years.
Lee
Joyce M
JM
Pediatric Endocrinology and Health Services Research, Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5456, USA. joyclee@umich.edu
Lim
Sungwoo
S
Zoellner
Jamie
J
Burt
Brian A
BA
Sandretto
Anita M
AM
Sohn
Woosung
W
Ismail
Amid I
AI
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011203:Poverty; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000208:ethnology*; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000208:ethnology*