Childhood obesity.

Worldwide prevalence of childhood obesity has increased greatly during the past three decades. The increasing occurrence in children of disorders such as type 2 diabetes is believed to be a consequence of this obesity epidemic. Much progress has been made in understanding of the genetics and physiology of appetite control and from these advances, elucidation of the causes of some rare obesity syndromes.

Higher self-reported physical activity is associated with lower systolic blood pressure: the Dietary Intervention Study in Childhood (DISC).

Objective: Children participating in a dietary clinical trial were studied to (1) assess physical activity patterns in boys and girls longitudinally from late childhood through puberty and (2) determine the association of level of physical activity on systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and BMI.

Patients And Methods: In the Dietary Intervention Study in Childhood, a randomized clinical trial of a reduced saturated fat and cholesterol diet in 8- to 10-year-olds with elevated low-density lipoprotein, a questionnaire that determined time spent in 5 intensity levels of physical activity was completed at baseline and at 1 and 3 years. An estimated-metabolic-equivalent score was calculated for weekly activity; hours per week were calculated for intense activities.

Self-perceived barriers to activity participation among sedentary adolescent girls.

Purpose: Potential barriers to activity participation were surveyed among adolescent girls and corroborated with other reported information.

Methods: Among 2379 black and white girls enrolled in the NHLBI Growth and Health Study since ages 9 or 10 yr, those reporting weekly activity frequency as "sometimes" or "rarely" were surveyed for three consecutive years from ages 16 or 17 yr. Barriers to activity were assessed using a 10-item questionnaire.

Racial differences in correlates of misreporting of energy intake in adolescent females.

Objective: To determine the extent of misreporting of energy intake (EI) and its anthropometric, demographic, and psychosocial correlates in a bi-racial cohort of young women.

Research Methods And Procedures: This was a cross-sectional study of 60 black and 60 white young women, 18 to 21 years old, enrolled in a longitudinal study. Total energy expenditure was assessed using doubly labeled water.

Relation between the changes in physical activity and body-mass index during adolescence: a multicentre longitudinal study.

Background: The role of physical activity in preventing obesity during adolescence remains unknown. We examined changes in activity in relation to changes in body-mass index (BMI) and adiposity in a cohort of 1152 black and 1135 white girls from the USA, who were followed up prospectively from ages 9 or 10 to 18 or 19 years.

Methods: BMI and sum of skinfold thickness were assessed annually, whereas habitual activity was assessed at years 1 (baseline), 3, 5, and 7-10.

Macronutrient intake of black and white adolescent girls over 10 years: the NHLBI Growth and Health Study.

Objective: To compare age-related changes in macronutrient and cholesterol intake between black and white girls, compare intakes with National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) recommendations, and examine sociodemographic associations with macronutrient intake.

Design: Cohort study with 3-day food records collected over 10 years.

Subjects: 2,379 girls, 1,166 white and 1,213 black, age 9 to 10 years at baseline, recruited from three geographic locations.

A summary of results of the Dietary Intervention Study in Children (DISC): lessons learned.

Prevention of cardiovascular disease must begin in childhood, preferably before risk factors develop. Elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in children are likely to track over time and become high-risk levels in adults. The Dietary Intervention Study in Children (DISC) was a multicenter, collaborative randomized trial in pre-adolescent children designed to test the efficacy and safety of a dietary intervention to lower saturated fat and cholesterol intake among growing children with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Obesity development during adolescence in a biracial cohort: the NHLBI Growth and Health Study.

Objective: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study (NGHS) is a 10-year study to investigate the development of obesity in black and white girls during adolescence and its environmental and psychosocial correlates. The purpose of this report was to examine changes in the annual prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in the NGHS cohort from ages 9 to 19 years.

Participants And Setting: A total of 2379 black and white girls, aged 9 to 10 years, were recruited from schools in Richmond, California, and Cincinnati, Ohio, and from families enrolled in a health maintenance organization in the Washington, DC area.

Decline in physical activity in black girls and white girls during adolescence.

Background: Physical activity declines during adolescence, but the underlying reasons remain unknown.

Methods: We prospectively followed 1213 black girls and 1166 white girls enrolled in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study from the ages of 9 or 10 to the ages of 18 or 19 years. We used a validated questionnaire to measure leisure-time physical activity on the basis of metabolic equivalents (MET) for reported activities and their frequency in MET-times per week; a higher score indicated greater activity.

Racial differences in the relation between uncoupling protein genes and resting energy expenditure.

Background: Lower resting energy expenditure (REE) in African American women may contribute to their obesity. The identification of uncoupling protein (UCP) genes has fueled a search for genes involved in energy metabolism in humans.

Objective: We examined variation in REE in relation to variation in UCP1, UCP2, and UCP3 in 141 women aged 18-21 y.