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.