Female Overweight and Obesity in Adolescence: Developmental Trends and Ethnic Differences in Prevalence, Incidence, and Remission

Despite substantial increases in the prevalence of adolescent overweight and obesity documented in recent decades, few studies
have prospectively tracked their development during the entire adolescent period. The aims of this study were to characterize
developmental trends in prevalence, incidence, and remission of overweight and obesity using annual data collected from ages
12 to 19 for 496 adolescent females. Ethnic differences between African American (n = 37), Latina (n = 96), and European American (n = 348) adolescents were also compared. The prevalence of overweight decreased slightly across adolescence and remission rates
exceeded incidence (onset). Obesity was more chronic, with increasing incidence accompanied by decreasing remission rates.
Middle through late adolescence was the period of greatest risk for the transition from overweight to obesity. African American
and Latina females had higher overweight and obesity prevalence than European American females throughout adolescence. Differences
in prevalence were driven by higher onset rates for African American and Latina females, whereas remission rates were comparable
across ethnic groups. Results suggest that adolescence is not a high-risk period for onset of obesity for European American
adolescent females, but is for African American and Latina adolescent females.