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. 2008 Jul;108(7):1163-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2008.04.007.

Social ecological predictors of the transition to overweight in youth: results from the Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at Schools (TEENS) study

Elizabeth G Klein  1 , Leslie A Lytle, Vincent Chen
Affiliations

Social ecological predictors of the transition to overweight in youth: results from the Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at Schools (TEENS) study

Elizabeth G Klein et al. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the social ecological predictors of the transition to overweight in youth, as shown in results from the Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at Schools study.

Design: Longitudinal data from a school-based intervention trial.

Participants: Adolescents who were involved in the Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at Schools intervention study who reported a healthful weight at baseline in 1998 (n=1,728).

Main outcome measure: Transition to overweight status (body mass index > or =85th percentile) at follow-up in eighth grade.

Statistical analysis: Generalized linear mixed model regression.

Results: Factors in the social, environmental, individual, and behavioral domains had significant unadjusted relationships with a transition to overweight status. In the multivariate analysis, adolescents who perceived themselves to be overweight at baseline were 2.3 times more likely to be overweight at follow-up compared to those with a normal weight self-perception. Compared to nondieters, current dieters were 2.6 times more likely to be overweight at follow-up, and boys were nearly three times more likely to transition to overweight status at follow-up compared with girls.

Conclusions: Individual factors, primarily related to a self-perception of being overweight, were the strongest predictors of transitioning to overweight as adolescents progressed from seventh through eighth grade. A better understanding of the relationship between weight concern and transition to overweight is needed.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
Change in weight from seventh to eighth grade: The Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at Schools (TEENS) study (n=1,728). aBMI=body mass index.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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