Objective. To report the prevalence of favorable growth patterns, including healthy weight maintenance (HWM) and return to healthy weight (RHW) among US school-age children. Methods. A longitudinal analysis of childhood growth patterns from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort was completed (n = 9416). The primary outcome included describing the prevalence of HWM/RHW patterns using consecutive child growth data from kindergarten to fifth grades. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore predictors of HWM/RHW. Incidence of RHW is calculated by grade level. Results. Seventy percent (n = 6617) of children enter kindergarten at a healthy weight and approximately 70% maintained a healthy weight through fifth grade. Among overweight/obese kindergartners, only 17.1% outgrew their weight risk (RHW) by fifth grade. Conclusions. Fewer than 1 in 5 at-risk children outgrow their weight risk during school-age yet a majority of healthy weight children can maintain healthy weight during a critical growth period. Future work should explore additional socioecologic factors associated with favorable growth.
NonnemakerJMMorgan-LopezAAPaisJMFinkelsteinEA. Youth BMI trajectories: evidence from the NLSY97. Obesity. 2009;17:1274-1280.
2.
NaderPRO’BrienMHoutsR. Identifying risk for obesity in early childhood. Pediatrics. 2006;118:e594-e601.
3.
CunninghamSAKramerMRNarayanKM. Incidence of childhood obesity in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:403-411.
4.
LiCGoranMIKaurHNollenNAhluwaliaJS. Developmental trajectories of overweight during childhood: role of early life factors. Obesity. 2007;15:760-771.
5.
SinghASMulderCTwiskJWvan MechelenWChinapawMJ. Tracking of childhood overweight into adulthood: a systematic review of the literature. Obes Rev. 2008;9:474-488.
6.
GordonTCastelliWPHjortlandMCKannelWBDawberTR. High density lipoprotein as a protective factor against coronary heart disease. The Framingham Study. Am J Med. 1977;62:707-714.
7.
VerschootenLDeclercqLGarmynM. Adaptive response of the skin to UVB damage: role of the p53 protein. Int J Cosmet Sci. 2006;28:1-7.
8.
KrugerSAldaMYoungLTGoldappleKParikhSMaybergHS. Risk and resilience markers in bipolar disorder: brain responses to emotional challenge in bipolar patients and their healthy siblings. Am J Psychiatry. 2006;163:257-264.
9.
PersaudDGayHZiemniakC. Absence of detectable HIV-1 viremia after treatment cessation in an infant. N Engl J Med. 2013;369:1828-1835.
10.
SapounaMWolkeD. Resilience to bullying victimization: the role of individual, family and peer characteristics. Child Abuse Negl. 2013;37:997-1006.
11.
WhitakerRCPepeMSWrightJASeidelKDDietzWH. Early adiposity rebound and the risk of adult obesity. Pediatrics. 1998;101:E5.
12.
SerdulaMKIveryDCoatesRJFreedmanDSWilliamsonDFByersT. Do obese children become obese adults? A review of the literature. Prev Med. 1993;22:167-177.
13.
BakerJLOlsenLWSorensenTI. Childhood body-mass index and the risk of coronary heart disease in adulthood. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:2329-2337.
14.
BaughcumAEChamberlinLADeeksCMPowersSWWhitakerRC. Maternal perceptions of overweight preschool children. Pediatrics. 2000;106:1380-1386.
15.
JainAShermanSNChamberlinLACarterYPowersSWWhitakerRC. Why don’t low-income mothers worry about their preschoolers being overweight?Pediatrics. 2001;107:1138-1146.
16.
SherryBMcDivittJBirchLL. Attitudes, practices, and concerns about child feeding and child weight status among socioeconomically diverse white, Hispanic, and African-American mothers. J Am Diet Assoc. 2004;104:215-221.
17.
EcksteinKCMikhailLMArizaAJ. Parents’ perceptions of their child’s weight and health. Pediatrics. 2006;117:681-690.
LundahlAKidwellKMNelsonTD. Parental underestimates of child weight: a meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2014;133:e689-e703.
20.
BallKDollmanJ. Physical activity, hehalthy eating and obesity prevention: understanding and promoting “resilience” amongst socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Austral Epidemiol. 2010;17(3):16-17.
21.
WenXGillmanMWRifas-ShimanSLSherryBKleinmanKTaverasEM. Decreasing prevalence of obesity among young children in Massachusetts from 2004 to 2008. Pediatrics. 2012;129:823-831.
22.
WangYCGortmakerSLTaverasEM. Trends and racial/ethnic disparities in severe obesity among US children and adolescents, 1976-2006. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2011;6:12-20.
23.
BallKAbbottGClelandV. Resilience to obesity among socioeconomically disadvantaged women: the READI study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2012;36:855-865.
24.
BalistreriKSVan HookJ. Trajectories of overweight among US school children: a focus on social and economic characteristics. Matern Child Health J. 2011;15:610-619.
25.
OgdenCLCarrollMDKitBKFlegalKM. Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010. JAMA. 2012;307:483-490.
26.
TourangeauK NCLeTSorongonAGNajarianM. Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K): Combined User’s Manual for the ECLS-K Eighth-Grade and K-8 Full Sample Data Files and Electronic Codebooks (NCES 2009-004). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences; 2009.
27.
CummingsP. Missing data and multiple imputation. JAMA Pediatr. 2013;167:656-661.
28.
Epi Info [computer program]. Version 3.5.4. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2008.
ChangYGableS. Predicting weight status stability and change from fifth grade to eighth grade: the significant role of adolescents’ social-emotional well-being. J Adolesc Health. 2013;52:448-455.
31.
GableSKrullJLChangY. Boys’ and girls’ weight status and math performance from kindergarten entry through fifth grade: a mediated analysis. Child Dev. 2012;83:1822-1839.
32.
MossBGYeatonWH. Young children’s weight trajectories and associated risk factors: results from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort. Am J Health Promot. 2011;25:190-198.
33.
US Public Health Service. Office of the Surgeon General, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health (U.S.). The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. Rockville, MD/Washington, DC: Public Health Service/US Department of Health and Human Services; 2001.
34.
SaelensBESallisJFFrankLD. Obesogenic neighborhood environments, child and parent obesity: the Neighborhood Impact on Kids study. Am J Prev Med. 2012;42:e57-e64.
35.
ClelandVJBallKSalmonJTimperioAFCrawfordDA. Personal, social and environmental correlates of resilience to physical inactivity among women from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Health Educ Res. 2010;25:268-281.
36.
WangYZhangQ. Are American children and adolescents of low socioeconomic status at increased risk of obesity? Changes in the association between overweight and family income between 1971 and 2002. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84:707-716.
37.
BallKClelandVSalmonJ. Cohort profile: the Resilience for Eating and Activity Despite Inequality (READI) study. Int J Epidemiol. 2013;42:1629-1639.
38.
KitBKOgdenCLFlegalKM. Prescription medication use among normal weight, overweight, and obese adults, United States, 2005-2008. Ann Epidemiol. 2012;22:112-119.
39.
Ver PloegM. WIC and the Battle Against Childhood Overweight. Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture; 2009.
40.
WangYBeydounMA. The obesity epidemic in the United States—gender, age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and geographic characteristics: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Epidemiol Rev. 2007;29:6-28.
41.
TaverasEMGillmanMWKleinmanKRich-EdwardsJWRifas-ShimanSL. Racial/ethnic differences in early-life risk factors for childhood obesity. Pediatrics. 2010;125:686-695.
42.
OlveraNSuminskiRPowerTG. Intergenerational perceptions of body image in hispanics: role of BMI, gender, and acculturation. Obes Res. 2005;13:1970-1979.
