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Onset to overweight among Asian, Hispanic, and non‐Hispanic white early adolescent girls in relation to acculturation
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.299.8
Subject(s) - overweight , acculturation , demography , ethnic group , medicine , obesity , population , gerontology , psychology , endocrinology , sociology , anthropology
The relationship between childhood overweight and acculturation has previously been found to be positively related. However, with the prevalence rates of childhood overweight increasing globally, this relationship may no longer be observable. The purpose of this analysis was to test the association of acculturation and probability of overweight among a diverse sample of early adolescent girls over a 22 month time frame. Using the sample population from the Adequate Calcium Today, a multi‐state calcium intervention in early adolescent girls, weights and heights were measured 3 times. We conducted Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis on time to overweight (≥ 85 th pctl according to the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts) and level of acculturation as exposure (individual indicators of generation and language spoken in the home) by Asian, Hispanic, or non‐Hispanic white early adolescent girls. There was no significant association between acculturation levels and time to overweight and obese in any of the race/ethnic groups. There was a significant association between survival (overweight‐free) and the race/ethnic groups (Log‐rank chi‐square=10.661, df=2, p =.005) with Asians girls having the highest survival and Hispanic girls the lowest survival. These results among early adolescent girls suggest that acculturation issues may not be as apparent in this era of a global obesity epidemic.