IMPROVING THE HEALTH TRAJECTORIES OF FUTURE GENERATIONS

Background: Clearly identified in the United States is the prevalence of obesity, not only in adults, but also in children. Obesity in adults is at an all-time high. These changes in obesity over the last 15 years have been dramatic. Thirty percent of adults are now classified as obese with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30; however, when a BMI of 25 is used, nearly 64% of the U.S. adults are classified as overweight or obese (CDC). The U.S. Healthy People 2030 Report, indicates 2 in 5 adults and 1 in 5 children in the U.S. are obese. While obesity certainly has a significant impact on one’s physical health it also has an economic, social, and psychological toll. More concerning are the co-morbidities or other diseases that accompany obesity. Usually accompanying obesity in adults are the co-morbidities of hypertension, blood lipid abnormalities, impaired glucose tolerance, heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancers and other disorders. Creating what is referred to as metabolic syndrome. These co-morbidities had only been seen in adults; however, recently these co-morbidities have started showing up in obese children. CDC data now shows trends for Type 2 diabetes in children that mirror the childhood obesity pattern form 5 or 10 years ago. This trend re-enforces the notion that as obesity goes so goes the co-morbidities of obesity. Research by the project’s faculty mentor has shown that Bloomington/Normal children have similar obesity rates as those observed nationally. However, what is missing both locally and nationally are statistics on the prevalence of the co-morbidities in childhood and young adults. While there is a strong relationship between adult obesity and its co-morbidities, the extent to which that relationship exists in young adults is not clear nor is it clear as to the extent that the co-morbidities are directly following or related to obesity or other factors. The question then becomes is overweight/obesity really the root of problem or is it, like the other co-morbidities, a symptom of some other underlying problem? Objective: Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of physical fitness, obesity and the co-morbidities of obesity in young adults. Since the co-morbidities may not be clearly evident additional health indicators, like body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, waist circumference, physical fitness scores, etc., will be examined to identify prevalence of co-morbidity risk factors in young adults