Most Bad Habits Begin Early

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From alcohol abuse to smoking, overeating to lack of exercise, most behaviors that lead to preventable deaths are well-established by adolescence or early adulthood, according to research from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

"Smoking, obesity, and alcohol abuse are leading contributors to preventable death in the United States," said Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the NICHD. "By early adulthood, a large proportion of Americans smoke, are overweight, and drink alcohol to excess."

Researcher Kathleen Mullan Harris, Ph.D., and colleagues at the Carolina Population Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examined data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and found that diet, activity level, obesity, healthcare access, tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use, and the likelihood of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease all got worse as subjects reached adulthood.

For example, just 5 percent of young white women reported getting no weekly exercise as adolescents. But that rate skyrocketed to 46 percent in early adulthood. White people, in general, were more likely to be healthy as adolescents but experience the biggest decline in healthy behaviors as adults, including high rates of smoking and binge drinking.

Black and Asian female adults were the least likely to exercise, as were white and black male adults.

"When they were young teenagers, most of the participants had fairly healthy behaviors," said Christine Bachrach, Ph.D., chief of NICHD's Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch. "What's really alarming is how rapidly healthy practices declined by the time the participants reached young adulthood."

"These trends are quite stunning," Harris added. "Whether or not the trends will continue as they age, we don't know. But it doesn't bode well for their future health, especially if these habits become established."

The research appears in the January 2006 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Harris, K. M., Gordon-Larsen, P., Chantala, K., Udry, J. R. (2006) Longitudinal Trends in Race/Ethnic Disparities in Leading Health Indicators From Adolescence to Young Adulthood. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 160: 74-81.