title: Body mass trajectories through midlife among adults with class I obesity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the body mass trajectories for adults with class I obesity. Our objective was to map the body mass trajectories through midlife for young adults with class I obesity in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 was used to generate a cohort of 1058 men and women, aged 25-33 years with class I obesity in 1990. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to identify the number and shape of the body mass index trajectories from 1990 to 2008 for this cohort.
  
  
  RESULTS
  By 2008, about 15% of men and women with class I obesity in 1990 experienced a body mass index increase to >40 kg/m(2). The trajectory analyses showed that roughly one third of the sample were on 1 of 2 body mass index trajectory groups that culminated with an average BMI well above 35 kg/m(2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The large majority of young adults with class I obesity are likely to gain weight over time. For many, the weight gain will be significant and greatly increase their risk of obesity-related co-morbidities and reduced life expectancy. As a result, bariatric surgery or other intensive weight management options might be warranted.
authors.affiliation: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Finkelstein
authors.forename: Truls
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Østbye
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malhotra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013997:Time Factors; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology