Teenagers who live in neighbourhoods with lower education or income levels may be at an increased rick of becoming obese, a new study has found.
The study among on 18-year-olds found that over a four-year period, 25 per cent of these young adults became overweight or obese.
"Emerging adulthood is a critical time period for excess weight gain due to a variety of factors, including many teenagers leaving home for college and having more freedom and access to food," said Deborah Rohm Young, from Kaiser Permanente Southern California in the US.
"Our study found that living in a disadvantaged place puts teens at an increased risk for being overweight or obese," Young said.
"Although we did not explore potential reasons for this increase, factors may include cultural norms, as well as lack of access to public parks and grocery stores," she said.
The study examined the independent effects of gender, race/ethnicity and neighbourhood-level education and income on incidence of overweight and obesity.
Researchers analysed the electronic health records of 22,823 racially/ethnically diverse people who were 18 years old in 2008 and followed them for four years.
The definition of overweight and obesity was based on the sex-specific body mass index-for-age growth charts.
All of those who were studied, with the exception of those who were Asian and Pacific Islanders, were normal weight based on a body mass index (BMI) less than 25.
Researchers utilised a lower BMI threshold for Asians - less than 23 - based on recommendations from the World Health Organisation, which demonstrated the increased risks associated with obesity, such as diabetes and hypertension, occur at a lower BMI among this population compared with other racial/ethnic groups.
Over the course of four years, researchers found about 23 percent of the normal-weight 18-year-olds living in neighbourhoods with low education became overweight and about two per cent of those living in lower-income neighbourhoods became obese.
In addition, females and blacks had almost 1.7 and 1.3 times the increased risk compared with males and whites, respectively, for being overweight or obese.
Asians and Pacific Islanders were almost three times more likely to become overweight compared with whites when using a BMI of less than 23.
"This study suggests that a teenager who is currently at a healthy weight can still be at risk of becoming overweight or obese in a short period of time," said Young.
"In addition, it is important to use the lower BMI for Asians to ensure we are identifying individuals who may be at risk for obesity and related conditions such as diabetes," she said.
The study was published in the journal Paediatric Obesity.
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