Table 1.

Characteristics of the 1993 Pelotas birth cohort

	Boys (N= 1150)		Girls (N= 1336)		p valuea
	n	%	n	%
Perceived parents' opinion at 11 y					.007
Thin/too thin	494	43.0	494	37.0
Normal	590	51.3	745	55.8
Fat/too fat	66	5.7	97	7.3
Body dissatisfaction at 11 y					<.001
Perceive thinner than ideal	357	31.0	355	26.6
Satisfied	617	53.7	659	49.3
Perceive fatter than ideal	176	15.3	322	24.1
Body dissatisfaction at 15 y					<.001
Perceive thinner than ideal	377	32.8	345	25.8
Satisfied	626	54.48	550	41.2
Perceive fatter than ideal	147	12.8	441	33.0
Weight control behavior at 18 y					<.001
No	862	75.0	924	69.2
Yes, lose weight	99	8.6	270	20.2
Yes, gain weight	189	16.4	142	10.6
Methods to lose weight at 18 y
Diet without nutritionist advice	34	34.3	139	51.5	.003
Medication	7	7.1	11	4.1	.236
Exercise	77	77.8	107	69.3	.108
Tea-like beverages	<5	–	23	8.5	.010
Methods to gain weight at 18 y
Diet without nutritionist advice	14	7.4	15	10.6	.315
Medication	8	4.2	18	12.7	.005
Exercise	36	19.1	19	13.4	.170
Tea-like beverages	<5	–	<5	–	.839

	Mean (range)	SD	Mean (range)	SD
BMI (kg/m2) at 11 y	16.6 (13.7 to 19.6)	1.3	16.8 (13.3 to 20.7)	1.6	.001
BMI (kg/m2) at 15 y	19.5 (14.2 to 28.8)	2.0	20.1 (14.0 to 33.0)	2.3	<.001
BMI change (kg/m2) - from 11 to 15 years	2.9 (−2.0 to 11.1)	1.4	3.2 (−1.4 to 13.9)	1.7	<.001

BMI = body mass index; SD = standard deviation.

^aChi-squared test for categorical variables and t-test for difference of means for continuous variable.