Analysis Reveals that Most Behaviors that Precede Major Causes of Preventable Death Begin in Young Adulthood
A recent analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that, by the time American youth reach early adulthood, a large proportion of them have begun poor practices which contribute to the three leading causes of preventable death in the United States: smoking, overweight and obesity, and alcohol abuse. The analysis also revealed that significant health disparities exist between racial groups, and that Americans are less likely to have access to health care when they reach adulthood than they did during adolescence.
Principal Investigator Kathleen Mullan Harris, Ph.D., and her colleagues of the Carolina Population Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, conducted the analysis using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which was designed to measure the effects of home, family, and school environment on behaviors that promote health. The analysis was published in the January 2006 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
For the analysis, investigators analyzed the responses of a nationally representative sample of more than 14,000 young adults who have been followed since early adolescence. The survey participants responded to questions on diet, inactivity, obesity, tobacco use, substance use, binge drinking, violence, reproductive health, mental health, and access to health care.
The analysis revealed that most of the participants had fairly healthy behaviors when they were young teenagers. However, healthy practices declined by the time participants reached young adulthood. For nearly all groups surveyed, diet, activity level, obesity, health care access, tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use, and likelihood of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease worsened as they reached adulthood. By the time they reached adulthood, participants were more likely to be obese, to frequently eat fast food, and to be sedentary. They were also less likely to have health insurance, to receive health care when they needed it, or to receive regular dental and physical health examinations.
The authors reported “dramatic” increases in behaviors related to the three leading contributors to preventable deaths. For instance, among young white women, the proportion reporting no weekly physical exercise was 5 percent during the adolescent years, but was 46 percent in early adulthood. On the positive side, participants were less likely to experience feelings of depression at adulthood than when they were adolescents, less likely to have suicidal thoughts, and less likely to be victims or perpetrators of violence.
Racial and ethnic disparities in health as well as in access to health care also increased as the participants reached adulthood. Whites, for example, were healthier during earlier adolescence than most other groups, but experienced the greatest declines upon reaching adulthood. On the other hand, blacks were the least likely to smoke cigarettes, to binge drink, or to use hard drugs at adulthood. Nevertheless, as adults, blacks and Native Americans were more likely to develop asthma than were other groups. Among female adults, blacks and Asians were the least likely to exercise, and among males, white and blacks were the least likely to exercise. The fact that different groups differed in their health behaviors underscores the importance of having individually tailored intervention programs to reduce unhealthy behaviors that would meet the needs of each particular group.
For additional information, please visit:
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
P.O. Box 3006
Rockville, MD 20847
Phone: 1 (800) 370-2943
Fax: (301) 984-1473
Email: NICHDInformationResourceCenter@mail.nih.gov
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Phone: (312) 464-2403
Source: “Most Behaviors Preceding Major Causes of Preventable Death Have Begun by Young Adulthood,” NIH News Release, January 11, 2006.