Correlates of BMI, Body Fat, Dietary Intake, and Physical Activity among 8- to 10-Year-Old African-American Girls: Girls Health Enrichment Multisite Studies Phase 1

In this supplement to Obesity Research, we present a series of articles examining correlates of BMI, body fat, dietary intake, and physical activity among 8to 10-yearold African-American girls who participated in Phase 1 of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)sponsored Girls Health Enrichment Multisite Studies (GEMS). The goal of Phase 1 of GEMS was to develop and pilot test culturally appropriate interventions to prevent excessive weight gain in 8to 10-year-old African-American girls. Phase 1 of GEMS was a 3-year development phase during which investigators from four field centers (University of Memphis, University of Minnesota, Baylor College of Medicine, and Stanford University) conducted formative evaluation including focus groups, interviews, and surveys to develop their respective intervention approaches. The field centers then independently developed and pilot tested their own interventions during a 12-week pilot study. Although the interventions were different at each field center, evaluation protocols with key commonalities were used. Girls were randomized to either an active intervention or control group on completion of a baseline clinic visit. After a 12-week intervention period, girls participated in a follow-up measurement visit. Two journal supplements, to date, were published. One described the genesis and rationale of GEMS, common design elements, recruitment strategies, and the outcomes of the four pilot studies (1). The second included empirical articles examining the measurement characteristics of the anthropometric, dietary intake, physical activity, and psychosocial variables collected as part of GEMS Phase 1 (2). This final supplement describes correlates of BMI, dietary intake, and physical activity among African-American girls. We include eight original empirical papers for this supplement and an introduction to the supplement that provides an overview of correlates of obesity among African-American preadolescent and adolescent girls and brief descriptions of each paper. In preparation for this supplement, we have taken steps to ensure rigorous peer review and critical input from knowledgeable colleagues with relevant expertise. To reflect the content of the papers, we identified reviewers with expertise in the following areas, both in general and specifically with African-American populations: pediatric obesity, nutrition, physical activity, behavioral interventions, and anthropometry. The process is described below. Each article was reviewed using a multistage process involving both internal and external review as follows. The guest editors initially critiqued submitted manuscripts and requested revisions before considering the papers ready for external review. Each manuscript was then sent to three external reviewers assigned by the guest editors based on the content of the papers and the expertise of the reviewers. Simultaneously, the paper was sent to two knowledgeable NHLBI staff scientists for content review as part of a standard NHLBI internal peer review process and then to a director for policy review. The identity of these reviewers was known only to the NHLBI guest editor (E.O.). All reviews were collated by the NHLBI guest editor and sent anonymously to the primary author, with a request to revise and provide written responses as to how each point raised by each reviewer was addressed. Authors’ responses and revised papers were then re-reviewed by the external reviewers and at least two of the guest editors, resulting in additional revisions. Several manuscripts were re-reviewed by external reviewers and the guest editors a second time to improve the quality of the papers. Final acceptance of the eight papers was determined by the guest editors. *Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; †HealthPartners Research Foundation, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and ‡Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland. Copyright © 2004 NAASO