American Journal of Public Health, Vol 91, Issue 4 642-644, Copyright © 2001 by American Public Health Association

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Maturational timing and overweight prevalence in US adolescent girls

LS Adair and P Gordon-Larsen
Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, University Square, CB# 8120, 123 W Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-3997, USA. linda_adair@unc.edu

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relation of age at menarche to overweight in US adolescent girls. METHODS: Effects of age at menarche and race/ethnicity on overweight were estimated via logistic regression, after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, in a sample of 6507 Hispanic, Black, White, and Asian American girls who participated in wave 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. RESULTS: Overweight prevalence rates were significantly higher in early maturing adolescents of all racial/ethnic groups but highest (57.5%) among early maturing Black girls. Early maturation nearly doubled the odds of being overweight (body mass index at or above the 85th percentile). CONCLUSIONS: Greater public health attention should be focused on the high prevalence of overweight, particularly among minority female adolescents.

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