HRSA researchers using data from a 1997-98 survey of teenagers in the U.S., Europe and Israel have found in separate studies that American children were the survey group’s most overweight and that U.S. teens from immigrant families who speak a language other than English at home face increased psychological and social problems.
 
The first study, led by Mary Overpeck, Dr.P.H., of HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), found that children from the United States were the most likely to be overweight, according to a measure known as body mass index (BMI).  BMI is calculated by dividing an individual’s weight in kilograms by the square of his or her height in meters.  Children with a BMI in the top 5 percent of all children surveyed were considered overweight.
 
Significant findings from the article, which was published in the January issue of The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, include:
 

• Among 13-year-old boys in the U.S., 12.6 percent were overweight.  Among 13-year-old girls, 10.8 percent were overweight.  For U.S. 15-year-olds, 13.9 percent of boys were overweight and 15.1 percent of girls were overweight.
  
  
• Among 13-year-olds, countries with significantly increased prevalence of overweight for both sexes were Ireland, Finland and Greece.  Countries with a significantly low prevalence of overweight teens were the Czech Republic, Denmark, Flemish Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden.   Lithuania had the lowest prevalence of overweight teens, with 1.8 percent overweight among 13-year-old boys, 2.6 percent among 13-year-old girls, .08 percent among 15-year-old boys and 2.1 percent among 15-year-old girls.

Overpeck and her team conclude that since most overweight adolescents become obese as adults, it is very important to reach this age group through preventive programs addressing diet and exercise.
 
In the second article, published in the December Journal of Adolescent Health and written by first author Stella Yu, also of HRSA’s MCHB, researchers examined the association of language spoken at home by U.S. teens from immigrant families -- exclusively or mostly English, exclusively or mostly another language or a mixture of the two -- with measures of adolescent well-being.
 
Findings include:
 

• Among non-Hispanic whites, those speaking a mixture of languages at home were at higher risk for feeling “low.” In this group, teens speaking a language other than English at home were at higher risk for being bullied because of their race or religion, and reported that their parents were not willing to talk to their teachers and expected too much of them at school.
  
  
• Youths speaking Spanish (either exclusively or in addition to English) at home were more likely to report not feeling confident or that their teachers' expectations were too high.  Black teens werefound to beat significantly higher risk on all measures, including seat belt and helmet use, frequency of stomach aches and headaches, regardless of the language spoken at home.   Asian teens who speak another language exclusively at home were at significantly higher risk in several areas.

Yu and her colleagues concluded that these findings emphasize the need to design risk-reduction interventions for adolescents that take the vulnerabilities of immigrant youth into account.  They recommended preventive mental health services for new immigrant families of all races and ethnic groups.
 
Both teams of researchers used survey data collected in the 1997-98 World Health Organization Study of Health Behavior in School Children. The Overpeck study compared results among 29,242 boys and girls from the U.S., 13 European countries and Israel, while the Yu study examined only the responses of 15,220 sixth to tenth graders in 386 U.S. schools.