Overweight and obesity from childhood to adulthood: a follow‐up of participants in the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey

Abstract

Objective: To examine overweight and obesity in Australian children followed through to adulthood. Design and participants: A cohort study of 8498 children aged 7–15 years who participated in the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey; of these, 2208 men and 2363 women completed a follow‐up questionnaire at age 24–34 years in 2001–2005. Main outcome measures: Height and weight were measured in 1985, and self‐reported at follow‐up. The accuracy of self‐reported data was checked in 1185 participants. Overweight and obesity in childhood were defined according to international standard definitions for body mass index (BMI), and, in adulthood, as a BMI of 25–29.9 and ≥ 30 kg/m2, respectively, after correcting for self‐report error. Results: In those with baseline and follow‐up data, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in childhood was 8.3% and 1.5% in boys and 9.7% and 1.4% in girls, respectively. At follow‐up, the prevalence was 40.1% and 13.0% in men and 19.7% and 11.7% in women. The relative risk (RR) of becoming an obese adult was significantly greater for those who had been obese as children compared with those who had been a healthy weight (RR = 4.7; 95% CI, 3.0–7.2 for boys and RR = 9.2; 95% CI, 6.9–12.3 for girls). The proportion of adult obesity attributable to childhood obesity was 6.4% in males and 12.6% in females. Conclusion: Obesity in childhood was strongly predictive of obesity in early adulthood, but most obese young adults were a healthy weight as children.

Which domains of childhood physical activity predict physical activity in adulthood? A 20-year prospective tracking study

“…A two-stage probability sampling process involved selecting schools with a probability proportional to size (n=109, 90.1% response rate), then using simple random sampling to select 10 boys and girls from each age strata within schools (n=8498, 67.5% response rate). At follow-up, 6840 original participants (81%) were traced from current and historical electoral rolls, electronic telephone directories and contact with classmates as part of the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study 23 24. Of these, 5170 agreed to participate in follow-up (61% of the baseline sample) and in 2004–2006 physical activity data were collected from 2879 (34% of the baseline sample) individuals.…”

Physical activity and obesity in children

“…Despite data on the relationship between physical activity and obesity in children and adolescents being inconsistent,12 most studies of habitual physical activity in children suggest that the overweight and obese are less active14 16 53 54 and have poorer fundamental movement skills than their normal-weight counterparts 55. There is also consistent evidence that boys are more habitually active than girls and even at the age of 6 years boys have lower skinfold thickness,56–58 and that obese children favour participation in sedentary behaviours 59…”

“…The most significant long-term consequence of obesity in childhood is adult obesity and its related comorbidities 7. An extensive body of research indicates a higher risk of overweight and obese children becoming obese adults than their normal-weight counterparts8–12 and a major contributing factor is low levels of physical activity. Obesity in adolescence also predicts later mortality 13…”

Too much sitting: a novel and important predictor of chronic disease risk?: Figure 1

“…Also, about 6% of children are also now obese14 and this obesity is likely to track into adulthood 15. Both overweight/obesity and physical inactivity in mid-age are strong markers for the development of non-communicable disease over time 16 17.…”