The overall objective of this grant application is to continue the longitudinal investigation of the development of obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors on a large cohort (N=2379) of black and white girls who were enrolled at age 9 and 10 in the NHLBI Growth and Health Study (NGHS) at three centers, and are presently being followed through age 15-16. During this period most of the cohort have reached maturation, and racial differences in obesity have become more pronounced. However, racial differences in CVD risk factors associated with adult obesity were not as yet evident. Continuing the longitudinal investigation for 3 more years will follow the cohort into young adulthood, providing insight on the factors that affect obesity and CVD risk factors in late adolescence and early adulthood, and how they differ between black and white females. It is important to measure behaviors such as cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, and poor diet as the girls enter the age when they are adopting these high-risk behaviors, and relate them to obesity and other cardiovascular risk factors. The examination of psychosocial risk factors will also be an objective of NGHS III. We expect that factors such as perceptions of obesity risks, body satisfaction, preferred body image, dieting practices, cultural preferences, changes in self-esteem, emotional influences on eating patterns, and eating disorder risk factors affect obesity and weight maintenance. Racial differences in these parameters will be associated with obesity development and also be related to socioeconomic status.
