• Online Features  This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (71)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Pediatrics  • Adolescent Medicine  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Kathleen Mullan Harris, PhD; Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD; Kim Chantala, MS; J. Richard Udry, PhD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:74-81.

Objective  To use ethnically diverse, national data to examine longitudinal trends in race/ethnic disparities in 20 leading health indicators from Healthy People 2010 across multiple domains from adolescence to young adulthood. Much of what is known about health disparities is based on cross-sectional measures collected at a single time point.

Design, Setting, and Participants  Nationally representative data for more than 14 000 adolescents enrolled in wave I (1994-1995) or wave II (1996) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and followed up into adulthood (wave III; 2001-2002). We fit longitudinal regression models to assess and contrast the trend in health indicators among racial/ethnic groups of adolescents as they transition into adulthood.

Main Outcome Measures  Diet, inactivity, obesity, tobacco use, substance use, binge drinking, violence, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health, and health care access.

Results  Diet, inactivity, obesity, health care access, substance use, and reproductive health worsened with age. Perceived health, mental health, and exposure to violence improved with age. On most health indicators, white and Asian subjects were at lowest and Native American subjects at highest risk. Although white subjects had more favorable health in adolescence, they experienced greatest declines by young adulthood. No single race/ethnic group consistently leads or falters in health across all indicators.

Conclusions  Longitudinal data indicate that, for 15 of 20 indicators, health risk increased and access to health care decreased from the teen and adult years for most US race/ethnic groups. Relative rankings on a diverse range of health indicators (and patterns of change over time) vary by sex and race/ethnicity, causing disparities to fluctuate over time.

Author Affiliations: Carolina Population Center (Drs Harris, Gordon-Larsen, and Udry and Ms Chantala), Department of Sociology (Drs Harris and Udry), and Department of Nutrition, Schools of Public Health and Medicine (Dr Gordon-Larsen), The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

CiteULike    Connotea    Delicious    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Is Accuracy of Weight Perception Associated With Health Risk Behaviors in a Diverse Sample of Obese Adolescents?
Lenhart et al.
The Journal of School Nursing 2011;27:416-423.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Plasma Levels of Metabolites of Catecholamine in Nicotine-Dependent Patients Treated With Varenicline
Umene-Nakano et al.
Nicotine Tob Res 2011;0:ntr149v1-ntr149.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Risk-Taking Behaviors of Adolescents With Extreme Obesity: Normative or Not?
Ratcliff et al.
Pediatrics 2011;127:827-834.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Disparities in pediatric obesity in the United States.
Wang
Adv Nutr 2011;2:23-31.
 

Marriage and Health in the Transition to Adulthood: Evidence for African Americans in the Add Health Study
Mullan Harris et al.
Journal of Family Issues 2010;31:1106-1143.
ABSTRACT  

Childhood obesity and adult morbidities
Biro and Wien
Am J Clin Nutr 2010;91:1499S-1505S.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Health and Health Care of Children
Flores and THE COMMITTEE ON PEDIATRIC RESEARCH
Pediatrics 2010;125:e979-e1020.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Obesity in the Transition to Adulthood: Predictions Across Race/Ethnicity, Immigrant Generation, and Sex
Harris et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2009;163:1022-1028.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Social Inequality and Racial Discrimination: Risk Factors for Health Disparities in Children of Color
Sanders-Phillips et al.
Pediatrics 2009;124:S176-S186.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Need for a Children's Oncology Group-Oriented Approach to Advance the Care of Children with Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome
Mahan and Smoyer
CJASN 2009;4:1549-1550.
FULL TEXT  

Management of Childhood Onset Nephrotic Syndrome
Gipson et al.
Pediatrics 2009;124:747-757.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Association of Multiple Behavioral Risk Factors with Adolescents' Willingness to Engage in eHealth Promotion
Tercyak et al.
J Pediatr Psychol 2009;34:457-469.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Introduction to the Special Issue: eHealth in Pediatric Psychology
Ritterband and Palermo
J Pediatr Psychol 2009;34:453-456.
FULL TEXT  

11.4 Adolescent health
Michaud et al.
Oxford Textbook of Public Health 2009;5:med-9780199218707-chapter-med-9780199218707-chapter.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Influence of Race, Ethnicity, and Culture on Childhood Obesity: Implications for Prevention and Treatment: A consensus statement of Shaping America's Health and the Obesity Society
Caprio et al.
Diabetes Care 2008;31:2211-2221.
FULL TEXT  

Obesity in Children and Adolescents
Cali and Caprio
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2008;93:s31-s36.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Racial/Ethnic Disparities and Culturally Competent Health Care Among Youth and Young Men
Vo and Park
Am J Mens Health 2008;2:192-205.
ABSTRACT  

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Medical and Dental Health, Access to Care, and Use of Services in US Children
Flores and Tomany-Korman
Pediatrics 2008;121:e286-e298.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Themed Review: Lifestyle Management of Obesity
Tyler et al.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE 2007;1:423-429.
ABSTRACT  

Recommendations for Prevention of Childhood Obesity
Davis et al.
Pediatrics 2007;120:S229-S253.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Obesity Epidemic in the United States--Gender, Age, Socioeconomic, Racial/Ethnic, and Geographic Characteristics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis
Wang and Beydoun
Epidemiol Rev 2007;0:mxm007v1.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Health Plans' Role In Preventing Overweight In Children And Adolescents
Dietz et al.
Health Aff (Millwood) 2007;26:430-440.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT