Trends in Body Mass Index in Adolescence and Young Adulthood in the United States: 1959–2002

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.04.019

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 49, Issue 6, December 2011, Pages 601-608

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.04.019 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined trends in body mass index (BMI) during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood by gender and race, using national data from the United States spanning for >40 years from 1959 and 2002. Although past research has investigated BMI trends separately in childhood/adolescence and adulthood, this study uniquely focused on the transition to adulthood (12–26 years) to identify the emergence of the obesity epidemic during this critical life-stage.

Methods

Longitudinal and cross-sectional data were obtained from four nationally representative surveys: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, National Health Interview Survey, and National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY79 and NLSY97). The analysis tracked age trends in BMI by time, which allowed for the examination of how BMI changed during the transition to adulthood and whether the patterns of change varied by period. Data best suited for trend analysis were identified. Age trends in BMI by gender and race were graphed and regression analysis was used to test for significant differences in the trends using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

Results

BMI increased sharply in the adolescent ages, beginning in the 1990s and among young adults around 2000. This age pattern of BMI increase was more dramatic among females and blacks, particularly black females.

Conclusions

BMI increased during the transition to adulthood and these increases have grown larger over time. Obesity prevention efforts should focus on this high-risk transition period, particularly among minority populations.

Section snippets

Background

The increase in BMI during the transition to adulthood is associated with several concomitant social trends that have redefined this life-stage in the United States. Over the past few decades, there has been a lengthening of the adolescent transition to adulthood because young people spend more years in education, thereby delaying job entry, marriage, and childbearing to later ages [16]. An important consequence of the lengthening of the transition to adulthood has been to extend the period of

Sample

Data were obtained from the following four nationally representative surveys: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) [24], National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) [25], National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) [26], and National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY79/NLSY97) [27]. For this analysis, we identified national datasets that either covered a wide time span (e.g., NHANES, NHIS) or were longitudinal (e.g., NLSY, Add Health) and that were often

BMI trends

Panel 1 in Figure 2 (BMI by age) shows the trends in BMI in adolescents and young adults using NHANES (1959–2002). Over this period, average BMI increased by about 2 kg/m² in early adolescence and by about 3 kg/m² in young adulthood. The increase in BMI over the period was not gradual. Hardly any increase was noticeable in the first four studies ranging from 1959 to 1980. Large increases in early adolescence appeared around 1990 in NHANES III (1988–1994). However, dramatic increases among young

Discussion

This study examined trends in race/ethnic and gender disparities in BMI during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood using nationally representative data that spanned the period from 1959 to 2002. We tested for significant differences in age trends in BMI by period, and found that the widely documented recent increase in BMI occurred during the adolescent ages in the 1990s, followed by an increase in BMI in the young adulthood ages a decade later in 2000. This pattern suggests that

Acknowledgements

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgement is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for

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Original articleTrends in Body Mass Index in Adolescence and Young Adulthood in the United States: 1959–2002

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Background

Sample

BMI trends

Discussion

Acknowledgements

J Adolesc Health

J Adolesc Health

Soc Sci Med

Soc Sci Med

Am J Prev Med

Am J Clin Nutr

J Adolesc Health

The obesity epidemic in the United States—Gender, age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and geographic characteristics: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis

Epidemiol Rev

Longitudinal trends in race/ethnic disparities in leading health indicators from adolescence to young adulthood

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med

The consequences of childhood overweight and obesity

Future Child

Health consequences of obesity in youth: Childhood predictors of adult disease

Pediatrics

Getting heavier, younger: Birth cohort effects on obesity over the life course

Int J Obes (Lond)

Social disparities in BMI trajectories across adulthood by gender, race/ethnicity and lifetime socio-economic position: 1986-2004

Int J Epidemiol

Racial and ethnic differences in secular trends for childhood BMI, weight, and height

Obesity (Silver Spring)

The trend of mean BMI values of US adults, birth cohorts 1882-1986 indicates that the obesity epidemic began earlier than hitherto thought

Am J Hum Biol

The transition to post-industrial BMI values among US children

Am J Hum Biol

The Natural history of obesity: Weight change in a large US longitudinal survey

Ann Intern Med

Trends in the association of poverty with overweight among US adolescents, 1971-2004

JAMA

Age-related decline in physical activity: A synthesis of human and animal studies

Med Sci Sports Exerc

Original article
Trends in Body Mass Index in Adolescence and Young Adulthood in the United States: 1959–2002