Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Spring;21(2):163-9.

Occurrence and correlates of overweight and obesity among island Puerto Rican youth

Jeremiah R Garza  1 , Edna Acosta Pérez, Michael Prelip, William J McCarthy, Jonathan M Feldman, Glorisa Canino, Alexander N Ortega
Affiliations

Occurrence and correlates of overweight and obesity among island Puerto Rican youth

Jeremiah R Garza et al. Ethn Dis. 2011 Spring.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: This article provides 2005-2008 population-based prevalence data on obesity and overweight among youth residing in Puerto Rico.

Design and setting: Data for this report are from the Asthma, Depression, and Anxiety in Puerto Rican Youth (ADA) study. Measures included height and weight level data on youth in Puerto Rico aged 10 to 19 years with and without asthma as well as body mass index data on their caregivers.

Participants: A total of 436 youth-caregiver dyads were selected and weighted to represent the general population of youth in Puerto Rico using 2008 US Census data.

Results: Household surveys demonstrated that 40% of youth aged 10 to 19 were overweight or obese. Twenty-five percent met moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity guidelines, however, physical activity was not associated with overweight or obesity in this sample. In multivariate analyses, females were 50% less likely than males to be overweight or obese. Older youth were 73% less likely to be overweight or obese than younger youth. Youth whose parents were obese were more than two times more likely to be overweight or obese than those whose parents were at a desirable weight.

Conclusions: Youth in Puerto Rico have higher rates of overweight and obesity and lower compliance to moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity guidelines than rates reported for youth on the mainland. More population-based research is needed to understand the epidemiology of obesity and overweight among island Puerto Rican youth and the contribution of physical activity to the phenomenon.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have a conflict of interest.

References

    1. Bray GA, Bellanger T. Epidemiology, trends, and morbidities of obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Endocrine. 2006;29(1):109–117. - PubMed
    1. Wang Y, Lobstein T. Worldwide trends in childhood overweight and obesity. International Int J Pediatr Obes. 2006;1(1):11–25. - PubMed
    1. Haslam DW, James WPT. Obesity. Lancet. 2005;366(9492):1197–1209. - PubMed
    1. Dietz WH. Critical periods in childhood for the development of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994;59(5):955–959. - PubMed
    1. Power C, Lake JK, Cole TJ. Measurement and long-term health risks of child and adolescent fatness. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1997;21(7):507–526. - PubMed

Publication types