International Journal of Obesity https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-019-0349-5 ARTICLE Epidemiology and population health Trends in height, weight, BMI, skinfolds, and measures of overweight and obesity from 1979 through 1999 among American Indian Youth: The Akwesasne Mohawk Lawrence M. Schell 1,2,3 ● Mia V. Gallo 1,3 ● Susan Pfeiffer 4 ● Florence Lee 1 ● Danielle Garry 1 ● Recai Yucel 2 ● the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment 5 Received: 26 November 2018 / Revised: 6 February 2019 / Accepted: 18 February 2019 © Springer Nature Limited 2019 Abstract Background/objectives Information on recent changes in overweight, obesity, and adiposity among American Indians is scarce. To assess changes in size and adiposity among American Indian youth, data from two samples of Akwesasne Mohawk youth, were compared. Subjects/methods Both project 1, conducted in 1979 (n = 75) and Project 2, conducted between 1996 and 1999 (n = 206), sampled youth 10–14 years of age from the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation (aka St. Regis) that borders New York state, and Ontario and Quebec provinces. Heights, weights, and skinfold thicknesses were converted to z-scores using CDC reference values. BMI status was calculated in terms of WHO age-specific cutoffs and CDC cutoffs. Results z-Scores for heights differed little between projects. The between-project difference in weight z-score is twice the between-project z-score difference for height. Differences among males are larger and more often significant. Triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness are significantly greater in Project 2. The rate of overweight and obesity combined, increased 3.3-fold. In multiple regression analyses with sex, height, and age in the model, project is a significant predictor of weight and skinfolds. Conclusions Weight and adiposity have increased substantially from 1979 to 1996–99. Overweight and obesity became significantly more common. Given the increase in adiposity, these youth may be facing significant health risks as adults in terms of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type II diabetes unless weight and adiposity is reduced. Introduction From 1963 to the present, the US has experienced an epi- demic of obesity and overweight. The rates of adult obesity, as indexed by body mass index (BMI), have changed dra- matically. In 1960, 23.4% of US adults between 20 and 74 years of age were obese [1]. In 1999–2000, 30.5% of adults were obese and in 2015–2016, 39.6% were obese [2]. The epidemic among US adults has disproportionately affected minority groups, particularly African Americans but other groups also [2]. Unfortunately, many descriptions and analytic comparisons of the obesity rates in the US omit North American Native Americans (termed American Indians and Alaskan Natives or AIAN by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)). For example, the most recent assessment of the health of the US population by the NCHS presents a 7-page table that describes the rates of overweight and obesity for the population broken down by income, sex, and every racial/ethnic group except AIAN (see Table 58 [3]). The reasons for so little information on AIAN are numerous and complex. These include difficulty in identifying individuals of the population and difficulty in accessing the population. These problems lead to small sample sizes and questions about the ability of the sample to represent the AIAN population generally. Most reviews of * Lawrence M. Schell lmschell@albany.edu 1 Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA 2 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA 3 Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA 4 University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada 5 Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, Akwesasne, NY, USA 1234567890();,: 1234567890();,: