Two Worlds of Obesity: Ethnic Differences in Child Overweight/Obesity Prevalence and Trajectories

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Research on childhood obesity has examined the prevalence of overweight and obesity during childhood and developmental trajectories. OJECTIVES: The study focuses on variations by time, gender, grade level, and school setting in the prevalence of overweight/obesity in elementary school children and trajectories in weight status for Hispanic and non-Hispanic white students in one community. METHODS BMI values were examined both using standard scores (z-scores) and as categorical variables. Cross-sectional data from four years were used to examine prevalence, and panel data across two-year periods examined trajectories. Descriptive statistics and mixed models, controlling for school setting, were used. CONCLUSION: Hispanic students began first grade with higher prevalence of obesity and overweight and the differences were larger in higher grades and later years. The majority of students had stable weight status over the two period of the trajectory analysis, but Hispanic students began the panel with higher BMI-Z values, were more likely to increase and less likely to decrease BMI-Z. The findings suggest that the degree of childhood overweight/obesity, especially among Hispanics, is substantial and will likely have profound impacts on adult obesity and other associated health issues in the future. Findings confirm the need for early childhood interventions to influence BMI.