Obesity in Children to be Studied Statewide

For the first time in Texas, researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston will look at the prevalence of obese and overweight school-age Texas children.

As part of a one-year surveillance study, UT-Houston researchers will monitor obesity trends in elementary, middle and high school students. The study is supported by a $399,749 Texas Department of Health Innovation Grant appropriated with funds from the Texas tobacco settlement. Dr. Deanna Hoelscher, assistant professor of biological sciences and nutrition at the UT-Houston School of Public Health, is the principal investigator of the project.

"We already have ways to monitor obesity trends among adults in Texas. Now we are working on a system to monitor these trends in kids at the state level," Dr. Hoelscher said. "Even though there are national statistics on childhood obesity, these data are not representative of Texas children."

Obesity is defined as being more than 30 percent above ideal body weight. It is a major risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.

Dr. Hoelscher says the study will be conducted in five TDH regions, which include 225 schools in Lubbock, Dallas, Harlingen, Waco and Tyler. Researchers at UT-Houston, the Texas Department of Health and the Texas Agriculture Extension Service will gather the information.

A questionnaire will be given at random to 11,250 fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders in 15 schools within ethnically and economically diverse communities. Questions asked will be aimed at determining attitudes about weight and food, and physical activity behaviors.

Researchers will also assess the students' Body Mass Index, or BMI, a guideline based on weight and height to indicate extent of body fat.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, obesity affects one in five American children. There are about 10 million obese children in the United States, with an estimated 800,000 obese children in Texas. The disorder is prevalent in minority children, with Hispanic children having the highest rate. The New England Journal of Medicine cites that obese children had a BMI at or above the 85th percentile for their age and sex.

Dr. Hoelscher says the self-administered questionnaire is a good way to not only test the students' overall knowledge about healthy behaviors, but to also find a connection between body types, attitudes and choices.

"We will ask the children nutrition- and exercise-related questions like how much physical activity did they perform in the last seven days and what kinds of foods do they eat regularly," Dr. Hoelscher said. "Once we analyze our survey findings regarding students' attitudes about nutrition and compare them to students' body weight, we can uncover some relationships between weight and behavior."

Poor behaviors related to nutrition and exercise can be detrimental to a child's health, Dr. Hoelscher said, because diseases can surface later in life.

"Many obese kids are presenting with diseases you usually find in adults, like type-2 diabetes," she said. "These children have a chronic disease that has 20 more years to work in them."

Dr. Hoelscher said although the first year of the study will focus on five TDH regions, she hopes to look at the remaining six regions in a second phase of the study to help devise more effective state and regional intervention policies and programs.

"This needs assessment will provide health officials and health care providers with the tools they need to develop and maintain programs that will help overweight and obese Texas youth," Dr. Hoelscher said.

Working with Dr. Hoelscher on the project are Dr. R. Sue McPherson, co-principal investigator; Dr. Ann Tarleton, project director; Dr. Eun Sul Lee; Dr. Ralph Frankowski; Dr. Steve Kelder; and Jerri Ward.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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