Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #180835

Title: THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EATING PATTERNS AND OVERWEIGHT STATUS IN CHILDHOOD

Author
item YANG, SU-JAU - BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MED
item Nicklas, Theresa
item Zakeri, Issa
item Baranowski, Thomas

Submitted to: Journal of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2003
Publication Date: 4/1/2003
Citation: Yang, S., Nicklas, T., Zakeri, I., Baranowski, T. The association between eating patterns and overweight status in childhood. Journal of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. 2003;17:A295.

Interpretive Summary: AN INTERPRETIVE SUMMARY IS NOT REQUIRED.

Technical Abstract: Childhood obesity is a growing public health problem. This study examined the association between eating patterns and overweight status in a cross-sectional sample of 1562 10-year-olds (65% Euro-American (EA) and 35% African-American (AA); 49% male). A single 24-hour dietary recall was collected on each participant. Overweight was defined as BMI >= 85th percentile using CDC reference standards. The percentage of 10-year-olds overweight was 24%; being highest among EA males (27%) and lowest among AA males (19%). Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate the association between eating patterns and overweight. Consumption of sweetened beverages (58% soft drink, 20% fruit flavor drink, 19% tea, and 3% coffee) (p < 0.001), SWEETS (p < 0.001), MEATS (p < 0.051), and total consumption of low quality foods (p < 0.01) were positively associated with overweight status. Total amount of food consumed, specifically from snacks, was positively associated with overweight status. There was a lack of congruency in the types of eating patterns associated with overweight status across the four ethnic-gender groups. The percent variable explained by each eating pattern ranged from < 1% to 5%. These results demonstrate that a number of eating patterns were associated with overweight status. Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings in a longitudinal sample having multiple days of assessment.