Adiposity changes in youth with a family history of cardiovascular disease: impact of ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to describe change in the prevalence of overweightness over time in a cohort of youth with a family history of cardiovascular disease and to determine whether changes in adiposity were influenced in this group by ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), or interactions among these factors.

Methods: Two hundred and fifty-three subjects with an average age of 8.8 years +/- 2.0 (SD) at the initial visit and 16.0 years +/- 1.8 SD at follow-up were included in the study. Measures of general adiposity, central adiposity, and peripheral adiposity were obtained at both the initial and follow-up visits. Overweight was defined as having a body mass index (BMI) > the 95th percentile; at risk for overweight was defined as having a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentile for age and gender.

Results: The prevalence of overweight among the study group remained stable at about 22%, while the prevalence of at risk for being overweight increased from 8.7% to 17.4%. Nearly 40% of all the participants had a BMI > 85th percentile at follow-up. Lower SES youth demonstrated the largest increases in BMI, standardized BMI, sum of skinfold thickness, waist circumference, and triceps skinfold thickness.

Conclusions: The prevalence of youth at risk for being overweight increases during late childhood and adolescence. Effectively focused primary prevention efforts are needed for at-risk youth to prevent the later development of adiposity-related morbidity.