Overweight and obesity during childhood strongly influence the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in adulthood. This study will be the first national study of overweight, obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors among Hispanic children (ages 8-14) living in the U.S.
Specific Aims : (1) Evaluate the influence of youth acculturation and intergenerational differences in acculturation between youth and parents on youth's lifestyle behaviors and their cardiometabolic risk profiles;(2) Test the association of parenting strategies and practices with children's lifestyle behaviors and cardiometabolic risk profiles;and, (3) Assess the influence of youths'psychosocial functioning on youth lifestyle behaviors and cardiometabolic risk profiles. Research Design: Researchers from five universities will recruit a sample of 1,600 boys and girls ages 8 to 14 with at least one parent participating in the Hispanic Community Health Study (HCHS/Study of Latino Health (SOL). SOL is a multi-center epidemiologic study of 16,000 Hispanic/Latino adults (ages 18-74) designed to determine the role of acculturation in the prevalence and development of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and to identify risk factors playing a protective or harmful role in determining the health of Hispanics/Latino adults. Data Collection: Participants in the proposed SOL Children's Study (SOL-Youth) will undergo a single 3-hour clinical examination and seven days of physical activity monitoring. During the clinical examination, youth will complete an interviewer-administered questionnaire assessing acculturation, pubertal development, psychological functioning, physical activity, diet, and family meal patterns. A substudy will be conducted to provide validation of participants'self reports of pubertal status. Clinic staff will collect anthropometric, blood pressure, and blood lipid data from youth and participants will complete an aerobic fitness test. Data on novel biomarkers, including measures of endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and adipocytokines, will also be obtained. Data on the parents of participating youth will be obtained primarily from existing data collected by the adult HCHS/SOL study, combined with new data obtained from parents on their children's medical histories and parenting strategies to promote a healthy home environment. Analyses: Statisticians at the coordinating center will analyze centrally stored data proceeding from bivariate analyses of the relationship between acculturation measures and our primary outcomes of interest - cardiometabolic risk factors and life style behaviors - to multivariate analyses using regression techniques. Implications: Detailed parent and child data on risk and protective factors will provide the basis for the development of prevention and intervention programs to improve the health of Hispanic/Latino children from middle childhood to early adulthood. Results will be disseminated to professional and lay communities through journal articles, conference presentations, and the press. A limited use dataset will also be publicly released.
U.S. Latino youth are more overweight or obese than non-Hispanic white youth and are at risk for lasting cardiovascular complications into adulthood. The present study will study a wide range of cultural factors (e.g., family environment, physical, social) associated with obesity in a sample of 1,600 Latino boys and girls aged 8-14 years old from the Bronx, NY;Chicago, IL;Miami, FL and San Diego, CA. Findings from our study will inform practice and policy efforts to develop programs to prevent obesity in Latino youth and thus improve the health of future generations.
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