Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
ResearchOriginal Research: BriefUsing Latent Class Growth Modeling to Examine Longitudinal Patterns of Body Mass Index Change from Adolescence to Adulthood
Section snippets
Add Health
Data in this study came from Add Health. Add Health is an ongoing nationally representative school-based sample of adolescents followed into adulthood. The study used a multistage, stratified, clustered sampling design. A sample of 80 high schools and 52 middle schools from the United States were selected to ensure the sample was representative in terms of region of the country, urbanicity, school size, school type, and ethnicity. Of the 20,745 adolescents surveyed in Wave I in 1994-1995 (ages
Results
The present study consisted of 3,315 participants who provided data for key study variables across all five waves (55.5% female; Wave I mean age=15.41, standard deviation [SD]=1.82). Of the participants, 74.7% reported being non-Hispanic white, 13.3% non-Hispanic black, 7.8% Hispanic, 2.9% Asian, and 1.3% Native American. Average participant BMI increased from 22.5 (SD=4.5) at Wave I to 29.9 (SD=7.6) at Wave V.
First, correlations among all study variables were examined. Then, fit indices,
Discussion
This study used LCGM to examine patterns of BMI change from adolescence to adulthood using preliminary Wave V data from Add Health. Five BMI trajectory classes were identified with meaningful class differences based on sex and race or ethnicity. In general, results revealed that participants either stayed a healthy weight or increased in BMI status from adolescence to adulthood. In addition, maintaining a healthy weight into adulthood only represented 29% of the sample, leaving a large portion
Conclusions
This study utilized data from a longitudinal, nationally representative sample to examine BMI trajectory patterns from adolescence to adulthood. Five distinct trajectory patterns were identified, in which subjects either maintained or increased in weight over time. The majority (71%) of subjects increased in weight, leaving only 29% of the sample maintaining a healthy weight trajectory through adulthood. Given the comorbidities of excessive weight gain and severe obesity, the most concerning
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 to Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for
J. N. Becnel is an assistant professor, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
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Growth charts
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J. N. Becnel is an assistant professor, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
A. L. Williams is an assistant professor, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT There is no funding to disclose.