Adolescent Health Publications

If you can not access any of the full publications, please contact Nicola Hawley.

1. Modernization and cardiometabolic risk in Samoan adolescents.

Hawley, N.L., Weir, L.M., Viali, S., Tuitele, J. & McGarvey, S.T. (2012) American Journal of Human Biology 24 (4): 551-557 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22430949/

We analyzed data collected from 436 adolescents—ages 12 to 17.9— from Samoa and American Samoa in order to describe the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factor clustering, which was indicated by the presence of three or more risk factors (factors included high waist circumference, high blood pressure, high triglyceride level, low-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high fasting serum glucose.) The findings show that American Samoan adolescents have greater cardiovascular risk clustering than Samoan adolescents and that the frequency of risk factor clustering varied according to body mass index status. The study suggests screening and intervention within the adolescent age group in order to reduce the burden of non-communicable disease.