Trends in Relative Weight Over One Year in US Urban Youth Hannah G. Lawman, MA 1, Giridhar Mallya, MD 2, Stephanie Vander Veur, MA 1 Tara McCoy, BA 1, Lisa Colby, MSW 2, Tim Sanders, BA 1, Judith Wylie-Rosett, EdD 3, Gary Foster, PhD 1 1 Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University School of Medicine; 2 Philadelphia Department of Public Health; 3 Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Background_____________________________ Few large-scale longitudinal datasets exist, particularly with low-income and minority youth who are at higher risk for obesity and obesity related chronic diseases. Longitudinal datasets allow for the examination of individual trajectories in addition to describing prevalence, which will aid in understanding current childhood obesity trends. Project Overview_________________________ This study seeks to: 1)Describe recent data on baseline estimates and one-year changes in measures of relative weight (weight status, z-BMI, BMI percentile, BMI) in a large sample of diverse youth 2)Examine relative weight trend variation by sex, race, grade, and obesity severity 3)Investigate how cross-sectional and longitudinal trends may differ Methods______________________________ Youth were sampled from 55 schools in high-risk areas tin Philadelphia hat were identified based on health, crime, and income data from a large urban city. Approximately 94% of eligible students were enrolled at baseline, and 86% of eligible students were enrolled at follow-up. Measured heights and weights were collected in 5-14 year-old youth over two assessments approximately 1 year apart to form 3 samples Baseline cross-sectional sample, n=17,727 Follow-up cross-sectional sample, n=18,476 A subset of longitudinal data, n=13,305 Results/Conclusions Cumulative link mixed models examining the difference in youths’ probability of being in any overweight category versus a healthy weight category showed no significant differences after 1 year in the longitudinal sample. Linear multilevel models examining the effect of time on BMI z-score and BMI percentile showed a small but statistically significant decrease in BMI z-score (B= -0.02, SE=0.003, p<.01) and percentile (B= -0.48, SE= 0.08, p<.01) after 1 year. Multinomial logistic regressions and multilevel moderation analyses showed that at baseline, females and Hispanics showed a significantly higher prevalence of obesity, and longitudinally, Asians and boys showed significantly greater decreases in relative weight compared to other racial groups and girls, respectively. Research to Practice Strategies it remains alarming that so many youth are overweight or obese and particularly concerning that low-income and minority youth exhibit such high and stable rates of severe obesity. Despite some initial positive signs, childhood obesity requires continued, creative, public health efforts. Contact Information Name: Hannah Lawman Organization: CORE – Temple University Phone Number: Address: N% Healthy Weight Over- weight Obese Severely Obese Whole Sample 13, Sex Males Females Race African American Hispanic White Asian Other Grade First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Table 1. Longitudinal sample demographics at post (n=13,305) PrevalenceStabilityWorsenedImproved Healthy Overweight Obese Severely Obese Overall Figure 1. Longitudinal tracking of students’ weight categories Table 2. Weight category prevalence, stability, incidence, and remission at follow-up Note: Stability=same weight category; Worsened=moved to any worsened weight category; Improved=moved to any improved weight category This research was support by a C ooperative Agreement #3U58DP S1 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Get Healthy Philly, an initiative of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.