Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics for the Study Sample (Ages 19–40 Years), Monitoring the Future Study, 1986–2008 (N = 5,233)

	Overall Sample		Latent Class 1 (Normative Weight Gain)		Latent Class 2(Persistently Overweight)
	Weighted Percent	Mean (SD)	Weighted Percent	Mean (SD)	Weighted Percent	Mean (SD)
Sociodemographic characteristics
Female	51.9		48.5		75.3
White	78.7		84.8		81.2
Non-Hispanic black	11.9		7.6		11.2
Hispanic	4.0		2.9		2.3
Other race/ethnicity	5.3		4.7		5.3
Childhood SES
Parents have high school education or less	63.8		59.7		74.8
Parents have college degree or higher	36.2		40.3		25.2
Average grade in high school		84.0 (5.9)		84.4 (6.7)		82.7 (6.7)
Region of residence at baselinea
South	31.5		28.0		36.3
Northeast	23.5		24.9		19.7
North Central	29.2		31.2		28.7
West	15.7		15.9		15.3
BMI over early adulthood, kg/m2
Age 19 years		22.6 (3.0)		21.5 (2.2)		26.0 (4.3)
Age 21 years		23.3 (3.4)		21.9 (2.3)		27.4 (4.5)
Age 23 years		23.4 (3.4)		22.1 (2.4)		28.0 (4.3)
Age 25 years		23.9 (3.5)		22.5 (2.5)		28.7 (4.2)
Age 27 years		24.3 (3.6)		22.9 (2.7)		29.4 (3.9)
Age 29 years		24.8 (3.8)		23.3 (2.9)		30.1 (3.9)
Age 31 years		25.2 (3.8)		23.6 (2.9)		30.8 (3.9)
Age 35 years		25.8 (3.9)		24.2 (3.0)		31.3 (3.7)
Health status at age 40 years
Hypertension	17.2
Diabetes	2.9
Asthma	8.7
Lung disease	2.2
Heart disease	2.6
Cancer	4.3
Any chronic health problem	30.9		25.9		48.2
SES at age 40 years
Receiving welfare or unemployment compensation	6.9		6.8		9.8
Home ownership	81.5		81.6		80.2
No further education beyond high school	41.9		40.7		55.4
No current partner	9.0		8.5		9.1

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; SD, standard deviation; SES, socioeconomic status.

^aBaseline refers to senior year of high school.