Premium
High opinions of fruits and vegetables (F&V) are associated with lower risk of overweight in African American children
Author(s) -
Lakkakula Anantha P,
Zanovec Michael,
Murphy Ellen P,
Tuuri Georgianna
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.680.7
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , percentile , obesity , demography , environmental health , body mass index , childhood obesity , gerontology , endocrinology , statistics , mathematics , sociology
The health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption are well established and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 recommends sufficient intake of these foods to prevent childhood overweight. Our objective was to examine the relationship between African American children's opinions of F&V and their BMI‐for‐age percentiles. 341 4th and 5th grade children (43% boys; 68% 4th graders) attending low‐income, public elementary schools in southeastern Louisiana participated. Children were measured for height and weight and completed a survey which sought their opinions of 38 different F&V. There was a preference for fruits over vegetables and a negative association between mean F&V opinion score and BMI‐for‐age percentile (r = ‐0.26, p = 0.01). Students were placed in 4 groups based upon F&V opinion scores: very low (1‐1.5), low (1.6‐2.0), moderate (2.1‐ 2.5) and high (2.6‐3.0). Students with very low opinions of F&V were 5.5 times more likely to be at risk of overweight or overweight compared to those with high opinions (OR= 5.5, 95% CI = 1.97, 15.44; p< 0.01). Food preferences are established early in life, therefore nutritionists and other health care professionals should promote children's acceptance and intake of F&V as a measure to reduce the prevalence of overweight among children. Grant Funding Source : Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation and LSU AgCenter