• Scott B Going, Timothy G Lohman, Ellen C Cussler, Daniel P Williams, John A Morrison, and Paul S Horn.
• Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA. going@u.arizona.edu
• Am J Prev Med. 2011 Oct 1; 41 (4 Suppl 2): S77S86S77-86.

BackgroundThe dramatic increase in pediatric obesity has renewed interest in accurate methods and screening indexes for identifying at-risk children and youth. Whether age-specific standards are needed is a factor that remains uncertain.PurposeThis study was designed to describe the age-specific fatness-risk factor relationship in boys and girls across a wide age range.MethodsData were from 12,279 white, black, and Mexican-American children and adolescents from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES) III (1998-1994) and IV (1999-2004). Children were grouped based on percent fat, estimated from subscapular and triceps skinfolds, and the age-specific relationships between percent fat and chronic disease risk factors (e.g., blood pressure, lipids and lipoprotein levels, glucose, insulin, and circulating C-reactive protein levels) were described in boys and girls, aged 6-18 years.ResultsPercent fat was significantly related to risk factor levels. At higher levels of percent fat, the prevalence of adverse cardiovascular disease risk factors was higher, particularly above 20% fat in boys and above 30% fat in girls. In boys and girls, the interaction term age by percent fat was a significant predictor of risk factors, whereas the percent fat by race interaction term was nonsignificant.ConclusionsThe results demonstrate a strong relationship between chronic disease risk factors and percent fat in children and youth that varies by age in boys and girls.Copyright © 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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