RISK-FACTORS FOR OBESITY IN YOUNG-ADULTS - HISPANICS, AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND WHITES IN THE TRANSITION YEARS, AGE 16-28 YEARS

Previous studies have suggested that late adolescence may represent a critical period in the development of lifelong obesity, but representa tive prospective studies in this age group are lacking. The analytic c ohort consisted of a representative sample from the United States of 1 1,591 Hispanic, African American, and white youths interviewed as part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Significant differences in obesity measures were observed among the six race-sex groups. Comp ared to whites of the same sex, the prevalence of obesity in 1981 was significantly higher among Hispanic males (12.0 vs 8.6%, P<0.05) and A frican American females (14.2% vs 7.3%, P>0.001) and lower among Afric an American males (6.4% vs 8.6%, P>0.005). Five-year cumulative incide nce of obesity (1981-1986) was highest in Hispanic males, Hispanic fem ales and African American females. Among those ages studied both in 19 81 and in 1986, a secular trend towards increased prevalence of obesit y was observed over the five-year period (10.6% in 1981, 13.6% in 1986 , P>0.0001). Multivariate analyses failed to identify behavioral or so ciodemographic factors that operated similarly in all race-sex groups.