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Philippa J. Clarke, PhD, Patrick M. O'Malley, PhD, Lloyd D. Johnston, PhD, John E. Schulenberg, PhD and Paula Lantz, PhD

Philippa J. Clarke, Patrick M. O'Malley, Lloyd D. Johnston, John E. Schulenberg, and Paula Lantz are with the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Patrick M. O'Malley, Lloyd D. Johnston, and John E. Schulenberg are also with the Monitoring the Future study. John E. Schulenberg is also with the Center for Human Growth and Development and the Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Paula Lantz is also with the Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be addressed to Philippa J. Clarke, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (e-mail: pjclarke{at}umich.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Objectives. We investigated temporal patterns from 1984 to 2006 in 6 weight-related health behaviors by using longitudinal data for multiple cohorts of young adults (aged 19–26 years) from the nationally representative Monitoring the Future Study.

Methods. We used growth curve models to examine historical trends in 6 health behaviors: frequency of eating breakfast, eating green vegetables, eating fruit, exercising, watching television, and sleeping 7 hours each night. Variations across gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were investigated.

Results. Frequency of exercising was consistently lower among young adult women than young adult men over this 23-year period. Compared with White women, Hispanic women, and women from other race/ethnic groups, Black women showed declines in the frequency of exercise since 1984. In general, young adult women showed a marked increase in the frequency of eating breakfast over this period, although Black women did not show any net gains.

Conclusions. Social disparities in body weight may increase because Black women, Hispanic women, and men with lower socioeconomic status show declining trends in positive weight-related health behaviors compared with White young adults with higher socioeconomic status.