Measures of adiposity in two cohorts of Hawaiian school children.

Background: Native Hawaiians have high rates of obesity and obesity-related diseases compared with non-Hawaiians in Hawaii, and the relation between this ethnic disparity in adiposity and socioeconomic status (SES) in children is unclear.

Aim: The present study compared measures of adiposity in two cohorts of school children residing in the Hilo area of Hawaii and related these measures to parental reports of ethnicity, household income and parent educational attainment.

Subjects And Methods: All children in either Kindergarten (mean age 5.6 years) or third grade (mean age 8.7 years) in eight elementary schools in the Hilo area were invited to participate. A total of 125 children had anthropometric, bioelectric impedance and air displacement plethysmography measurements taken and their parents answered questions about household income, parental educational attainment and genealogical background that included ethnicity of ancestors.

Results: Boys and girls in both cohorts had stature approximately at the 50(th) percentile (Z-score = 0) of national samples (CDC data). Z-scores of BMI were elevated compared to the CDC reference curves, but were significantly higher in male Native Hawaiian children in the older cohort among whom nearly 50% had a BMI above the 95(th) percentile for age. In the younger cohort, there was no significant ethnic difference in adiposity measures. In the older cohort, Native Hawaiian boys had significantly higher adiposity measures than their classmates. Adiposity in third grade girls was significantly and inversely related to their father's educational attainment. Percentage of Hawaiian ancestry was not significantly related to adiposity measures.

Conclusions: Ethnic disparity in adiposity among Native Hawaiians compared with non-Hawaiian age mates occurs after the age of 6 years, and is confined to males in this sample. For older girls, father's, but not mother's, educational attainment was inversely related to adiposity.