Childhood Obesity: Prediction and Prevention

Investigators from Emory University sought to determine the incidence of obesity in children by evaluating data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS). For the ECLS, in 1998–1999 a cohort of kindergarten children were enrolled who were considered to be representative of all kindergarten children in the United States for that school year. ECLS data included measurements of height and weight at 7 time points from kindergarten to the end of eighth grade (age 5–14 years). Additional ECLS data collected included sex, race or ethnic group, socioeconomic status, and birth weight. Using ECLS data, investigators calculated each …