Poor teens at risk for being overweight

By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adolescents between 15 and 17 years of age who live in poverty are much more likely to be overweight than those not living in poverty, according to a look at U.S. national survey data.

Researchers found that the overall prevalence of overweight in 1999-2004 was 23.3 percent among adolescents from families living below the poverty line -- more than 50 percent higher than the 14.4 percent prevalence of overweight among adolescents from families living above the poverty line.

However, the prevalence of overweight did not differ significantly by family poverty status among younger adolescents (ages 12 to 14 years).

The differences between older and younger teens are consistent with the greater freedom enjoyed by older teens, the study team suggests in their report in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Compared with adolescents between 12 and 14 years old, the older teens (adolescents ages 15 to 17 years) have more opportunity to buy their own food and soft drinks, decide how to spend their leisure time, and perhaps more money in their pockets to spend, they explain.

In comments to Reuters Health, Dr. Richard A. Miech of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who led the study said it appears that "factors that have led to the increasing rates of adolescent overweight in recent decades are having a great impact on the poor."

One factor, he said, is soft drink consumption. According to Miech, "the percentage of calories that adolescents between 15 and 17 get from sweetened beverages like soda, sweetened fruit juice, and energy drinks has increased by more than 20 percent in the last decade, and this increase has been particularly acute among the poor."

Other contributing factors contributing to expanding waistlines in 15- to 17-year-olds include their lack of exercise and physical activity and skipping breakfast.

Miech believes the trend in poverty and adolescent overweight can be reversed, if there is sustained public will to do so. "Many of the factors that are involved in this trend have been identified, and we're beginning to do something about them," he said.

"The recent, voluntary withdrawal of soft drinks from schools is a good step," said Miech. "We need to develop and promote more programs to improve adolescent nutrition and physical exercise, especially among the poor."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association May 24/31, 2006.