Correlates of food patterns in young Latino children at high risk of obesity

Objective The present paper examines the influence of age and gender on food patterns of Latino children. Design Data are from baseline of a 5-year, quasi-experimental obesity prevention study: Ninos Sanos, Familia Sana (NSFS; Healthy Children, Healthy Families). In 2012, the researchers interviewed Latino parents, using a thirty-item questionnaire to ask about their children’s food consumption and feeding practices. Statistical tests included t tests and ANCOVA. Setting Rural communities in California’s Central Valley, USA. Subjects Two hundred and seventeen parents (87–89 % born in Mexico) and their children (aged 2–8 years). Results Fifty-one per cent of the children were overweight or obese (≥85th percentile of BMI for age and gender). Mean BMI Z -scores were not significantly different in boys (1·10 ( sd 1·07)) and girls (0·92 ( sd 1·04); P =0·12). In bivariate analysis, children aged 2–4 years consumed fast and convenience foods less often ( P =0·04) and WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children)-allowable foods more often than children aged 5–8 years ( P =0·01). In ANCOVA, neither age nor gender was significantly related to food patterns. Mother’s acculturation level was positively related to children’s consumption of fast and convenience foods ( P =0·0002) and negatively related to consumption of WIC foods ( P =0·01). Providing role modelling and structure in scheduling meals and snacks had a positive effect on the vegetable pattern ( P =0·0007), whereas meal skipping was associated with more frequent fast and convenience food consumption ( P =0·04). Conclusions Acculturation and child feeding practices jointly influence food patterns in Latino immigrant children and indicate a need for interventions that maintain diet quality as children transition to school.