Social and Economic Consequences of Overweight in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

TLDR

Overweight in adolescence can harm later self‑esteem, social and economic outcomes, and physical health. The study examined how adolescent overweight predicts later educational attainment, marital status, income, and self‑esteem in a nationally representative cohort. Researchers followed 65–79% of the cohort to 1988, compared overweight youths to peers with other chronic conditions, and defined overweight as BMI above the 95th percentile for age and sex.

Abstract

Overweight in adolescents may have deleterious effects on their subsequent self-esteem, social and economic characteristics, and physical health. We studied the relation between overweight and subsequent educational attainment, marital status, household income, and self-esteem in a nationally representative sample of 10,039 randomly selected young people who were 16 to 24 years old in 1981. Follow-up data were obtained in 1988 for 65 to 79 percent of the original cohort, depending on the variable studied. The characteristics of the subjects who had been overweight in 1981 were compared with those for young people with asthma, musculoskeletal abnormalities, and other chronic health conditions. Overweight was defined as a body-mass index above the 95th percentile for age and sex.