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  • Original Article
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Body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity

Excessive gain in body mass index-for-age Z-score and associated factors: a cohort study in female adolescents

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 525–529 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To evaluate the occurrence of excessive gain in body mass index-for-age Z-score (BMI/AZ) and its associated factors in adolescent girls.

Methodology:

This is a cohort study conducted between 2007 and 2012 with 382 girls between 10 and 18 years of age attending public schools in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Excessive gain in BMI/AZ (EGBMI/AZ) at follow-up was considered if the adolescent had a BMI/AZ >0.63 between follow-up and baseline.

Results:

In 2007, 33.5% of girls were overweight, and at the end of the study this prevalence was 26.2%, with no statistically significant differences. Of the 382 girls evaluated in the cohort, 33% showed EGBMI/AZ. In 2007, 95% of these girls were normal weight or underweight, and in 2012, 60% were classified as overweight. After adjusting for possible confounding factors, three variables remained independently associated with EGBMI/AZ: underweight, normal weight and maternal overweight.

Conclusions:

Both underweight and normal weight were associated with EGBMI/AZ, and this could be due to a physiological protection for the occurrence of menarche. In fact, maternal overweight has considerable influence on adolescents’ nutritional status because of exposure to an obesogenic environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

    M L D Araújo, P C Cabral, I K G de Arruda, A S Diniz, R Maio & P B P Coelho

  2. Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    L de Souza Holanda

Authors
  1. M L D Araújo
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  2. P C Cabral
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  3. I K G de Arruda
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  4. L de Souza Holanda
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Correspondence to M L D Araújo.

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Araújo, M., Cabral, P., de Arruda, I. et al. Excessive gain in body mass index-for-age Z-score and associated factors: a cohort study in female adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 525–529 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.163

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