Teenage onset obesity linked to school dropout

Teenage onset obesity linked to school dropout
 
A new article in the Journal of School Health has shown that becoming obese during early adolescence increases the risk of school dropout.

Data on 5,066 children was obtained from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, a longitudinal project that follows a sample of people born between 1957 and 1964. Each wave of assessment included participants' obesity status (BMI) and school enrollment status.
 
The study identified four trajectories of obesity from ages 6 to 18: (1) A non-obese group, (2) a chronically obese group with individuals who were obese in both childhood and adolescence, (3) decreasing trajectory (childhood-only obesity), and (4) increasing trajectory (adolescent-onset obesity). Adolescents belonging to the increasing trajectory group (adolescent-onset obesity) had a higher likelihood of dropping out of high school compared with those belonging to the other three groups.

The authors conclude that adolescent-onset obesity is a unique contributor to school failure. Although the reasons for this are unknown, they suggest that the high significance placed on social status during early adolescence combined with significant physiological changes as a result of puberty may have an especially adverse impact on those becoming obese during this transitional period. They also suggest that becoming obese during adolescence (as opposed to childhood) may be a disadvantage due to having less time to develop adaptive coping strategies.
 
The study also showed ethnicity playing a significant role, with white teenagers who become obese during adolescence particularly vulnerable to school dropout. The report suggests this may be explained by greater social stigma being placed on white versus African-American or Latino adolescents becoming obese.

Johns Hopkins University 

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