It has been observed that a rapidly increasing BMI throughout childhood is associated with negative health outcomes in adulthood like obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
A recent study, conducted by Penn State assessed whether BMI trajectories from age 5 impacted changes in weight and BMI at the age of 24.
As reported in Science Daily, the study was basically a follow-up, using data collected from a ten-year observational study done by other researchers, where they had gathered 197 five-year-old females and found four different BMI trajectory groups based on patterns of growth between ages 5 and 15.
In the follow-up study, 182 of these participants, all childless, were found when they were 24-year-old, and through surveys, the researchers asked women to report their weight, height, education level, dieting, relationship, student and work status.
The researchers found that individuals with accelerated weight gain from age 5-15 continued to have the greatest weight gain into adulthood.
Thus, rapidly increasing BMI in childhood can mean high prevalence of obesity in adulthood.
“This highlights the importance of prevention efforts in childhood and adolescence,” said Emily Hohman, assistant research professor of the Center for Childhood Obesity Research.
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