The Marshfield Youth Health Study: design, objectives and cohort characteristics.

PROBLEM: The Marshfield Youth (MY) Health Study was designed to identify parental and infant factors associated with childhood and adolescent overweight. METHODS: The study examined 867 children (age 5-17 years) from the Marshfield Public Schools. Heights and weights were measured by standard methods. Age- and gender-specific body mass index (BMI) percentiles and z-scores were determined. Definitions of overweight from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were applied. Family characteristics were self-reported by questionnaire and included parents' BMI, employment, education, smoking, physical activity; and child's daycare attendance, and television/computer use. Maternal and child medical records were reviewed. RESULTS: The MY Health cohort included 361 families. The mean +/- SD age of the children was 12.1 +/- 3.0 yrs; 511 (59%) were born in Marshfield, Wis. Of the children studied, 70% had a healthy body weight (BMI >5th and or = 85th and or = 95th percentile). There were no differences in gender or weight status between the study cohort and all Marshfield school children (n=2782). CONCLUSIONS: Children in the MY Health Study are representative of all school-age children in Marshfield. This cohort will be studied to identify factors associated with overweight among children.