Overweight and obesity among White, Black, and Mexican American children: implications for when to intervene.

Objective: The study sought to determine if race/ethnicity, age, gender, and poverty index influence the development of overweight (OW) or obesity (OB) in children 6-11 years of age and whether a desirable time to intervene could be established.

Methods: A descriptive and comparative analysis was conducted using data from the 1999-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Results: Advancing age was the single largest predictor of OW or OB followed by race/ethnicity.

Conclusions: Culturally sensitive interventions targeting children in their early elementary school years could reduce the consequences of OW and OB in childhood.