Assessing the Lifestyle Habits of Overweight/Obese Youth Identifies Intervention Target Areas for Weight Management Programs

An abstract of a study by Williams et al determining whether overweight/obese youths are meeting lifestyle recommendations and identifying any differences between age and sex is presented. Participants were primarily girls (64.7%), white (71.7%), and aged between 7 and 18 years (82.4%). Participants' mean body mass index (BMI) percentile was 97.8 (SD ± 3.0) and mean BMI z score, 2.3 (SD ± 0.6). Average daily vegetable, fruit, and dairy intakes were reported at less than recommended amounts by 94%, 49%, and 70% of participants, respectively. For beverages, 17% reported fruit juice intakes exceeding recommendations and 52% had excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. For physical activity, 70% did not meet the daily recommendation, whereas 45% exceeded the recommendation for daily screen time. Daily breakfast consumption was reported by 65%, and 76% ate family meals together more than 5 times per week. Inadequate sleep time was reported by 54%. No significant differences in habits for age or sex were found, although boys tended to be more active and older children tended to sleep less.