The reproducibility and validity of a past year physical activity questionnaire was determined in a sample of 100 adolescents aged 15-18 years, randomly selected from a population-based cohort. Subjects completed four 7-day recalls of activity approximately 3 months apart. The average of the four 7-day recalls of activity was utilized as the "gold standard" against which the past year questionnaire was compared to evaluate validity. The questionnaire was also validated against objective measures, such as physical fitness and body mass index. Interscholastic team rosters were utilized to directly validate the reporting of specific activities. One-month and one-year test-retest reproducibility of the questionnaire were determined. For different measures of activity, the Spearman correlations between the questionnaire and the average of the 7-day recalls ranged from 0.55 to 0.67 in males and 0.73 to 0.83 in females, all significant at p < 0.01. In general, although there was no association between the past year activity questionnaire results and objective measures, there was a significant, albeit weak association between the physical activity questionnaire and time to complete a 1-mile (1.61-km) run (r = -0.47) in females. Subjects reported participating in specific interscholastic sports with an accuracy of 100%, 86%, and 95% for the fall, winter, and spring sports, respectively. Test-retest reproducibility was higher over one month (r = 0.79) than over one year (r = 0.66). These data provide evidence that the questionnaire yields a reasonable estimate of past year or "habitual" physical activity in adolescents.

The longitudinal data on physical activity collected in the NGHS cohort further confirm a dramatic decrease in the overall level of physical activity during the transition from childhood to adolescence. The consistency among the three methods indicate that both the AD and HAQ are useful tools for the assessment of activity levels in adolescent girls.

The decline in PA during adolescence is primarily due to a decrease in the number of activities in which the adolescent is participating, and there is only a moderate probability that an adolescent will continue to participate in an activity during the 4-year period from junior to senior high. Future efforts should be directed at identifying factors associated with initiating and maintaining participation in specific activities.

We assessed the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in a cohort of 1242 adolescents (aged 11 through 17) currently participating in a 4-year prospective study of medically treated injuries. Overall, 30.4% of the adolescents reported LBP. The impact of LBP in adolescents was considerable, with one third resulting in restricted activity and 7.3% seeking medical attention. Life-table analysis demonstrated that by age 15, the prevalence of LBP increased to 36%. There were few differences by gender or race. These results suggest that LBP in adolescents is a serious public health problem.

Background-Physical activity (PA) tends to decrease from adolescence to young adulthood, and factors that have been proposed to contribute to this decrease are life transitions. The focus of this study is to examine life transitions, such as marriage and parenthood, and the impact they may have on the physical activity levels of young adults.

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AARON, DEBORAH J., AND TONDA L. HUGHES. Association of childhood sexual abuse with obesity in a community sample of lesbians. Obesity. 2007;15: 1023-1028. Objective: Our goal was to examine the association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and obesity in a communitybased sample of self-identified lesbians. Research Methods and Procedures:A diverse sample of women who self-identified as lesbian was recruited from the greater Chicago metropolitan area. Women (n ϭ 416) were interviewed about sexual abuse experiences that occurred before the age of 18. Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate BMI and categorize women as normalweight (Ͻ25.0 kg/m 2 ), overweight (25.0 to 29.9 kg/m 2 ), obese (30.0 to 39.9 kg/m 2 ), or severely obese (Ն40 kg/m 2 ). The relationship between CSA and BMI was examined using multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results: Overall, 31% of women in the sample reported CSA, and 57% had BMI Ն25.0 kg/m 2 . Mean BMI was 27.8 (Ϯ7.2) kg/m 2 and was significantly higher among women who reported CSA than among those who did not report CSA (29.4 vs. 27.1, p Ͻ 0.01). CSA was significantly related to weight status; 39% of women who reported CSA compared with 25% of women who did not report CSA were obese (p ϭ 0.004). After adjusting for age, race/ ethnicity, and education, women who reported CSA were more likely to be obese (odds ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-3.4) or severely obese (odds ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-5.2). Discussion: Our findings, in conjunction with the available literature, suggest that CSA may be an important risk factor for obesity. Understanding CSA as a factor that may contribute to weight gain or act as a barrier to weight loss or maintenance in lesbians, a high-risk group for both CSA and obesity, is important for developing successful obesity interventions for this group of women.