Association of beverage consumption with obesity in Mexican American children

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association of beverage consumption with obesity in Mexican American school-aged children.

Design: Cross-sectional study using the baseline data from a cohort study. Mothers and children answered questions about the frequency and quantity of the child's consumption of soda, diet soda, other sugar-sweetened beverages, 100% fruit juice, milk and water. The questions were adapted from the Youth/Adolescent FFQ. Children were weighed and measured. Data were collected on the following potential confounders: maternal BMI, household income, maternal education, maternal occupational status, maternal acculturation, child physical activity, child screen time and child fast-food consumption. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between servings (240 ml) of each beverage per week and obesity (BMI ≥ 95th percentile).

Setting: Participants were recruited from among enrolees of the Kaiser Permanente Health Plan of Northern California. Data were collected via an in-home assessment.

Subjects: Mexican American children (n 319) aged 8-10 years.

Results: Among participants, 20% were overweight and 31% were obese. After controlling for potential confounders, consuming more servings of soda was associated with increased odds of obesity (OR = 1·29; P < 0·001). Consuming more servings of flavoured milk per week was associated with lower odds of obesity (OR = 0·88; P = 0·004). Consumption of other beverages was not associated with obesity in the multivariate model.

Conclusions: Discouraging soda consumption among Mexican American children may help reduce the high obesity rates in this population.

Fig. 1

Percentage of obese () and non-obese () participants who consume each surveyed beverage in a typical week; Mexican American children (n 319) aged 8–10 years, San Francisco Bay Area, USA (SSB, sugar-sweetened beverages)

Fig. 2

Mean weekly consumption in servings (240 ml) among obese () and non-obese () participants who consume each beverage; Mexican American children (n 319) aged 8–10 years, San Francisco Bay Area, USA (SSB, sugar-sweetened beverages)