Familial and individual predictors of obesity and insulin resistance in urban Hispanic children.
BACKGROUND
High intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) has been suggested to contribute to the pediatric obesity epidemic, however, how the home food environment influence children's intake of SSB among Hispanic families is still poorly understood.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relationships between the home food environment and Hispanic children's diet in relation to weight status and insulin resistance (IR).


METHODS
A food frequency questionnaire was administered to 187 Hispanic children (ages 10 to 14 years) and anthropometrics were measured. IR was estimated from fasting insulin and glucose levels using the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMAIR ). Parents reported on family demographics and the home food environment. A structural equation modelling approach was applied to examine the hypothesized relationships among variables.


RESULTS
The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity was 52.8% and it was positively associated with HOMAIR (β = 0.687, P < .0001). Children's SSB consumption was positively associated with children's body mass index z-score (β = 0.151, P < 0.05) and subsequently to HOMAIR . Children's SSB consumption was predicted by home availability (β = 0.191) and parental intake of SSB (β = 0.419) (P < 0.05). The model fit indices [χ(2)  = 45.821 (d.f. = 30, P > 0.01 and < 0.05), χ(2) /d.f. = 1.53, root mean square error of approximation = 0.053 (90% confidence interval = 0.016, 0.082), comparative fit index = 0.904] suggested a satisfactory goodness-of-fit.


CONCLUSIONS
The home food environment and parental diet seem to play an important role in the children's access to and intake of SSB, which in turn predicted children's weight status.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Cancer Prevention Program, Division of Public Health Sciences, Seattle, WA, USA.
M
M
Santiago-Torres
National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Y
Y
Cui
Department of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
A K
AK
Adams
Department of Pediatric, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
D B
DB
Allen
Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
A L
AL
Carrel
Parsons Brinckerhoff, Portland, OR, USA.
J Y
JY
Guo
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
A
A
Delgado-Rendon
Department of Preventive Cardiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
T L
TL
LaRowe
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
D A
DA
Schoeller
D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001628:Beverages; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects; D004435:Eating; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population
Family eating habits; home environment; insulin resistance; obesity