Familial and individual predictors of obesity and insulin resistance in urban H ispanic children

Summary Background High intake of sugar‐sweetened beverages ( SSB ) has been suggested to contribute to the pediatric obesity epidemic, however, how the home food environment influence children's intake of SSB among H ispanic families is still poorly understood. Objectives To evaluate the relationships between the home food environment and H ispanic children's diet in relation to weight status and insulin resistance ( IR ). Methods A food frequency questionnaire was administered to 187 H ispanic children (ages 10 to 14 years) and anthropometrics were measured. IR was estimated from fasting insulin and glucose levels using the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance ( HOMA IR ). Parents reported on family demographics and the home food environment. A structural equation modelling approach was applied to examine the hypothesized relationships among variables. Results The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity was 52.8% and it was positively associated with HOMA IR (β = 0.687, P  < .0001). Children's SSB consumption was positively associated with children's body mass index z‐score (β = 0.151, P  < 0.05) and subsequently to HOMA IR . Children's SSB consumption was predicted by home availability (β = 0.191) and parental intake of SSB (β = 0.419) ( P  < 0.05). The model fit indices [χ 2  = 45.821 (d.f. = 30, P  > 0.01 and < 0.05), χ 2 /d.f. = 1.53, root mean square error of approximation = 0.053 (90% confidence interval = 0.016, 0.082), comparative fit index = 0.904] suggested a satisfactory goodness‐of‐fit. Conclusions The home food environment and parental diet seem to play an important role in the children's access to and intake of SSB , which in turn predicted children's weight status.