Beverage consumption patterns of children born at different risk of obesity.
BACKGROUND
Increased intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice has been associated with overweight in children.


OBJECTIVE
This study prospectively assessed beverage consumption patterns and their relationship with weight status in a cohort of children born at different risk for obesity.


METHODS
Participants were children born at low risk (n = 27) or high risk (n = 22) for obesity based on maternal prepregnancy BMI (kg/m(2)). Daily beverage consumption was generated from 3-day food records from children aged 3-6 years and coded into seven beverage categories (milk, fruit juice, fruit drinks, caloric and non-caloric soda, soft drinks including and excluding fruit juice). Child anthropometric measures were assessed yearly.


RESULTS
High-risk children consumed a greater percentage of daily calories from beverages at age 3, more fruit juice at ages 3 and 4, more soft drinks (including fruit juice) at ages 3-5, and more soda at age 6 compared to low-risk children. Longitudinal analyses showed that a greater 3-year increase in soda intake was associated with an increased change in waist circumference, whereas a greater increase in milk intake was associated with a reduced change in waist circumference. There was no significant association between change in intake from any of the beverage categories and change in BMI z-score across analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
Children's familial predisposition to obesity may differentially affect their beverage consumption patterns. Future research should examine the extent to which dietary factors may play a role in pediatric body fat deposition over time.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. tkral@mail.med.upenn.edu
Tanja V E
TV
Kral
Albert J
AJ
Stunkard
Robert I
RI
Berkowitz
Virginia A
VA
Stallings
Reneé H
RH
Moore
Myles S
MS
Faith
D000818:Animals; D001628:Beverages; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002253:Carbonated Beverages; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015930:Diet Records; D004327:Drinking Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors