Overweight Adolescents Become Obese Adults

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — An analysis of nationally representative data showed that being obese in adolescence increases the risk of being severely obese in adulthood, with the risk higher in women, and highest for black women.

Individuals with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] 40 or greater) encounter serious and potentially life-threatening health complications. "In 2000, an estimated 2.2 percent of adults, or 4.8 million individuals, were severely obese, with a disproportionately higher prevalence in women and racial/ethnic minorities. Yet, few national studies track individuals overtime to understand the progression of obesity to severe obesity," Natalie S. The, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues were quoted as saying. "Understanding which individuals are at risk of severe obesity is essential for determining when interventions would need to be implemented to prevent obese individuals from progressing to severe obesity. Although observational studies have reported that the prevalences of overweight, obesity, and severe obesity have increased in recent years, individuals who are obese early in life have not been studied longitudinally to determine their risk of developing severe obesity in adulthood."

The researchers conducted a study to see how often adolescent’s severe obesity transferred into adulthood. The researchers studied 8,834 people, ages 12 to 21 years, who were enrolled in the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.  The participant’s height and weight was measured, and surveys were administered. New cases of adult-onset severe obesity were calculated by sex, race/ethnicity, and adolescent weight status, and results were weighted for national representation.

In 1996, 79 (1.0 percent) adolescents were severely obese; 60 (70.5 percent) remained severely obese in adulthood. Over the 13-year period between adolescence (1996) and adulthood (2007-2009), a total of 703 new cases of severe obesity in adulthood were observed, indicating a total incidence rate of 7.9 percent. The researchers found that individuals with incident severe obesity in adulthood had a higher adolescent BMI and were more likely to be racial/ethnic minorities compared with individuals without severe obesity.

"A substantial proportion of obese adolescents became severely obese by their early 30s, with significant variation by sex. Among individuals who were obese as adolescents, incident severe obesity was 37.1 percent in men and 51.3 percent in women. Incident severe obesity was highest among black women at 52.4 percent. Across all sex and racial/ethnic groups, less than 5 percent of individuals who were at a normal weight in adolescence became severely obese in adulthood," authors wrote.

Analysis showed that obese adolescents were significantly more likely to develop severe obesity than normal-weight or overweight adolescents, with variation across race/ethnicity and sex.

"The clinical implications of these observed trends are concerning given the comorbidities and chronic disease associated with severe obesity,” Dr. The said. “Findings highlight the need for interventions prior to adulthood to prevent the progression of obesity to severe obesity, which may reduce severe obesity incidence and its potentially life-threatening consequences."

SOURCE: JAMA, published online November 9, 2010