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Columns::September 2, 2003
Open wide: Food science building renovation, addition dedication scheduled
UGA scientists lead international study of hot springs in Russia
$1 million NSF grant will support biosensor research
Magazine ranks UGA as top 20 public university for fourth consecutive year
Carmical gift will be used to increase number of honors journalism courses
Professor named pharmacy college’s teacher of the year
Meeting and greeting
Campus Closeup
Retirees
Newsmakers
Learning experience
Guiding Lights
Campus News
Weight watcher
UGA researcher finds that nearly half of state’s children are overweight
By Denise H. Horton
dhorton@uga.edu
Nearly 42 percent of a sample of Georgia fourth graders are either overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, according to the findings of a recent study.
The numbers for students in eighth and 11th gradeS aren’t much better, according to Richard Lewis, professor of foods
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| Richard Lewis examined the body mass index of students in grades four, eight and 11 in the state of Georgia. (Photo by Peter Frey) |
and nutrition in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, who presented his research as part of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute Symposium on campus in May.
“We tested a total of 3,473 students in grades four, eight and 11 in four regions of Georgia,” Lewis says. The regions represent urban, suburban, rural-growth and rural-decline areas of the state. Unlike earlier studies in the state, Lewis included height and weight measurements for those participating in the study. Based on those measurements, the body mass index for each student was established. BMI is considered a simple but accurate method for determining whether a person is overweight.
Children’s body fatness changes over the years as they grow. In addition, girls and boys differ in their body fatness as they mature. Consequently, according to Lewis, BMI for children is gender and age specific. For example, a 9-1/2-year-old boy who stands 4 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 90 pounds would be considered at risk for being overweight. If that same child gains 10 pounds, he would be considered overweight and at higher risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, and Type II diabetes, health conditions that were once considered adult diseases. A 9-1/2-year-old girl of the same height would be considered at-risk for being overweight if she weighed 91 pounds and overweight if she weighed 105 pounds.
For students in eighth grade, the study showed 38 percent were overweight or at risk of being overweight. For 11th graders, the percentage was nearly 36 percent. Students were considered overweight if their body mass index was at or above the 95th percentile for other children of their same age and gender. Those at the 85th percentile or higher were classified as overweight or at-risk for being overweight.
Somewhat surprisingly, Lewis’s study showed that children living in rural areas were more likely to be overweight than those living in suburban or urban areas. Nearly 41 percent of those living in rural-decline areas were overweight or at-risk for being overweight.
The figure for rural-growth areas was 38.2 percent; for suburban areas it was 36.4 percent and for urban areas it was 33.3 percent. Rural-growth and rural-decline areas are defined based on whether they are experiencing population and economic growth or decline.
The study also found that overweight prevalence was higher in African Americans than white, non-Hispanic participants. Overweight prevalence was higher for males than for females, except when ethnicity was taken into account. African-American females had a higher prevalence than either African-American males or white, non-Hispanic females.
The percentages of overweight participants found by Lewis were significantly higher than those reported by earlier studies, such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study conducted in 1999-2000 and the Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in 2001. YTS relied on phone interviews with parents or self-reporting by the children. NHANES undertook actual measurements of children, but the data was based on a national sample, rather than focusing only on Georgians.
In addition to establishing the BMI for participants, Lewis and his colleagues also gathered survey information on a variety of related issues.
For example, nearly 77 percent of overweight fourth graders, 83 percent of overweight eighth graders, and nearly 85 percent of overweight 11th graders said they have tried to lose weight. Among those considered as having normal weight, the percentage who have tried to lose weight dropped to about 41 percent for each of the three groups.
Nearly 88 percent of eighth graders and 83 percent of 11th graders who are overweight said they would like to lose weight. That figure dropped to about 33 percent for those who are in the normal weight range.
The percentage of participants who were identified as overweight and who recognized their weight problem showed wide variance. Just over 48 percent of overweight fourth-graders considered themselves overweight. For eighth-graders, that figure jumped to 57 percent, while 69.5 percent of overweight 11th graders identified themselves as such. Among children of average weight in each of the three groups, only about 14 percent thought they were overweight.
“The next step is to look more closely at specific factors that may have an impact on children’s weight, such as their access to recreation and their knowledge of nutrition,” Lewis says. “We also need to continue to emphasize the importance of gathering actual measurement data rather than relying on self-reporting, since there clearly is a difference in accuracy.”
Lewis’s study was conducted in partnership with the Georgia Department of Community Health, the Georgia Department of Human Resources and the Georgia Center for Obesity and Related Disorders.
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