title: Low serum vitamin B-12 and folate concentrations and low thiamin and riboflavin intakes are inversely associated with greater adiposity in Mexican American children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Micronutrient status may be a contributing factor to the development of childhood obesity in many industrializing countries passing the nutritional transition. The few studies investigating associations between serum concentrations of vitamin B and intake of B vitamins with adiposity, however, have reported inconsistent findings.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to examine associations between serum vitamin B-12 and folate concentrations and intakes of B vitamins with body fat by using data on 1131 Mexican American children 8-15 y of age included in NHANES 2001-2004.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children's body mass index (BMI), trunk fat mass (TrFM), and total body fat mass (TBFM) were used as body adiposity (BA) measures. Serum concentrations of folate and vitamin B-12 were measured in blood samples collected from children. Intake of B vitamins was collected according to 24-h dietary recall. Associations of BA with serum concentrations of vitamin B-12 and folate and intake of B vitamins were determined by using linear and multinomial regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum concentrations of vitamin B-12 and folate were inversely associated with BMI (β: -2.68, P < 0.01; β = -1.33, P < 0.01), TrFM (β:-3.32, P < 0.01; β: -0.14, P < 0.05), and TBFM (β:-1.93, P < 0.01; β: -3.19; P < 0.01). Higher serum concentrations of vitamin B-12 were associated with a reduced risk of obesity (OR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.77; P < 0.001). Thiamin and riboflavin intakes were inversely associated with BMI (β:-1.35, P < 0.05; β: -1.11, P < 0.05) and TrFM (β:-1.26, P < 0.05; β: -1.37, P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Similar inverse associations between BA and status of both vitamin B-12 and folate and intake of thiamin and riboflavin suggest that these micronutrients may play a role in adipogenesis and risk of childhood obesity.
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia; and.
authors.forename: Inong R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Gunanti
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia; and.
authors.forename: Geoffrey C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia; and.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Mamun
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia; and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical Institute of Public Health, Basel, Switzerland kurt.long@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Kurt Z
authors.initials: KZ
authors.lastname: Long
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D005494:Folic Acid Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D017058:Mexican Americans; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D012256:Riboflavin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D012257:Riboflavin Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D013831:Thiamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D013832:Thiamine Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D014806:Vitamin B 12 Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D018977:Micronutrients; D005492:Folic Acid; D014805:Vitamin B 12; D012256:Riboflavin; D013831:Thiamine
keywords: B-vitamins; Mexican-American; adiposity; body fat; children