Obesity prognosis: a longitudinal study of children from the age of 6 months to 9 years.

The development of body fatness and leanness is examined in an ongoing prospective nutrition and growth study. Individual skinfold thicknesses, relative weights, weight gains, activity levels, and caloric intakes were examined at seven ages between 6 months and 9 years. Changes in body fatness in this group of children provide evidence that the obese infant usually does not become the obese child. Weight gain in infancy is also a poor predictor of 9-year old obesity. Changes from obese to non-obese or lean are often not linear. There is evidence that impending or actual obesity begins at ages 6 to 9 years with some predictability provided as early as age 2 years for girls, age 3 years for boys.

Body composition and physical activity in 8-year-old children.

Body measurements and determinations were made of normal children age 8 3/4 yr. Anthropometric indices most highly correlated with percentage fat as determined by body density were the sum of four skinfolds, relative weight, and triceps skinfold thickness. Girls had a significantly higher percentage of fat than boys. Percentage fat at this age was compared to longitudinal activity scores (based on 1-day activity records) obtained from 6 months to the current age. There was no significant correlation of activity with fatness in girls. In boys, activity at 3 and 4 yr had a significant negative correlation with fatness at age 8; activity at age 8 was not correlated. Relative-leanness-fatness was better related to past than current activity. Comparison of longitudinal activity scores revealed a continuity of activity patterns for short intervals (e.g., 1 yr), but over longer periods (e.g., 4 or more yr) the effect diminished.

Leadership and quality in nutritional care: our role in today's world.

As the only profession whose sole concern is the application of nutritional science in the lives of people, we are responsible for leadership in the provision of high quality nutritional care for the people of the world. Meeting our responsibility requires true professionalism as specialists and generalists at both the individual and the Association level. Our client systems must include all those who wield power in influencing nutritional practices. The lone dietitian in a small hospital is as much a part of our overall endeavor as the nutritional policy maker at the international level.

Serum cholesterol of 6-year-olds in relation to environmental factors.

Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels of 84 6-year-old children who have ben participants in a longitudinal diet and growth study were measured. These results were than related to past and present environmental factors. There appeared to be a slight inverse relationship between childhood activity levels and the 6-year-olds' serum cholesterol levels. Serum cholesterol levels at age 6 were significantly correlated with intake of dietary cholesterol at this age. A relationship between infant feeding and serum cholesterol levels at age 6 was not substantiated.

Effect of nutritional supplementation in pregnancy. II. Effect on diet.

Women judged to be at high risk of delivering low-birth-weight infants were assigned to one of three supplements--high-protein beverage, low-protein beverage, or a vitamin-mineral preparation--to determine: (a) The acceptability of a liquid dietary supplement to pregnant women. (b) The effect of the dietary supplement on diets normally eaten by pregnant women. Acceptance of the high-protein beverage by the women in this study was low. Fifty per cent of the dropouts indicated a dislike for the beverage because of either poor flavor or an inability to tolerate it. The women generally consumed "adequate" diets, although there were variations. Increases in intakes of calories and protein in Group 1 were statistically significant, suggesting the high-protein beverage served as a supplement for both calories and protein; that is, these nutrients were added to the women's existing intake. For the low-protein beverage women (Group 2), statistics revealed the beverage was used as a substitute.

Environmental factors associated with preschool obesity. III. Dietary intakes, eating patterns, and anthropometric measurements.

This longitudinal study of children from six months to six years of age showed differences by age, sex, and race in dietary intakes, eating patterns, and anthropometric measurements. Except for calories and iron at all ages and calcium between two and four years, most children consumed at least two-thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowances. Dietary protein was consistently high at all ages. There was no apparent relationship between the use and need for vitamin or mineral supplements. At six years of age, most children ate five meals or snacks per day. Television commercials, children accompanying mothers to grocery stores, and the publicized relationships of dietary fat and cholesterol to coronary disease influenced food practices of families. Anthropometric measurements revealed that boys were consistently taller and heavier than girls. However, at all ages, even at six months, girls had higher skinfold values than boys. These data on dietary intakes, eating practices, and anthropometric measurements will be correlated with obesity indexes at each age in subsequent papers.

Effect of nutritional supplementation in pregnancy. I. Outcome of pregnancy.

Women judged to be at high risk of delivering low-birth-weight infants were assigned to one of three supplements--high-protein beverage, low-protein beverage, or a vitamin-mineral preparation--to determine the effect these nutritional supplements would have on the outcome of pregnancy. In comparing prenatal nutrient intake and the birth weight of their infants, no significant associations were found. However, since the women were well nourished and since the sample size was small, changes in birth weight may have gone undetected. Nevertheless, a trend of increased birth weight with higher protein intake was observed.

Food choices of obese and non-obese persons.

An observational study of food choices of patrons of a campus cafeteria was conducted to ascertain whether obese and non-obese individuals had the same eating patterns. Subjects were unaware of the monitoring of their food choices. Patrons were categorized by visual appraisal into forty-eight cross-classified groups according to sex (male, female), body build (slender, sturdy, stocky, obese), height (tall, average, short), and age (less than and more than thirty years of age). Servings of food were estimated visually as it was not possible to determine exact amounts. Foods were classified as either protective foods with good contributions of nutrients in proportion to calories (Group B) or as high-calorie, low-nutrient foods (Group A). Significant findings were the tendency for those in the obese category to select more servings of food and more foods from the high-calorie, low-nutrient Group A foods, when compared with selections of persons in the other body-build groups. A more controlled study is suggested for more definitive results. Also pointed out was the importance of recognizing that excessive food intake may be one possibility among many in cases of refractory obesity.