Background
Sweetened beverages of low nutritional quality may be displacing more nutritious beverages, such as 100% fruit juice and milk, from children’s diets. However, previous research has not examined changes in beverage intake over time using nationally representative longitudinal data.
Objective
To examine changes in sweetened beverage, milk, and juice consumption between 5th and 8th grade.
Design
Longitudinal analysis of self-reported beverage consumption.
Participants/setting
Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Kindergarten Cohort 1998–1999 (ECLS-K), a nationally representative study of children followed from kindergarten through 8th grade. This analysis used data from Spring 2004 and 2007, when most children were in 5th and 8th grade, respectively (n=7,445).
Main outcome measures
Changes in consumption of sweetened beverages, milk, and 100% fruit juice last week.
Statistical analyses performed
Survey-adjusted linear regression was used to estimate longitudinal relationships between servings of milk, sweetened beverages, and 100% fruit juice, controlling for child and family characteristics and food consumption.
Results
Children’s milk consumption decreased between 5th and 8th grade, and these decreases were larger among children who drank sweetened beverages daily. However, after controlling for demographic characteristics, changes in children’s milk consumption were not significantly related to changes in their consumption of sweetened beverages over time (β=0.005, p=0.81), while changes in milk consumption were positively related to changes in juice consumption (β=0.087, p<0.01).
Conclusions
Observed decreases in average milk consumption from 5th to 8th grade were not related to changes in sweetened beverage consumption. They were positively related to changes in fruit juice consumption, so not indicating displacement. Caloric beverages generally tended to increase or decrease in tandem, so focus must be placed on their role in children’s entire diet and on balancing them with food and total beverage intake.
Objectives. We estimated the prevalence of overweight and diabetes among US immigrants by region of birth.
Methods. We analyzed data on 34 456 US immigrant adults from the National Health Interview Survey, pooling years 1997 to 2005. We estimated age- and gender-adjusted and multivariable-adjusted overweight and diabetes prevalence by region of birth using logistic regression.
Results. Both men (odds ratio [OR] = 3.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.9, 5.8) and women (OR = 4.2; 95% CI = 2.3, 7.7) from the Indian subcontinent were more likely than were European migrants to have diabetes without corresponding increased risk of being overweight. Men and women from Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean were more likely to be overweight (men: OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.3, 1.7; women: OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.7, 2.2) and to have diabetes (men: OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.4, 2.9; women: OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.4, 2.8) than were European migrants.
Conclusions. Considerable heterogeneity in both prevalence of overweight and diabetes by region of birth highlights the importance of making this distinction among US immigrants to better identify subgroups with higher risks of these conditions.
OBJECTIVE To compare diabetes prevalence among Asian Americans by World Health Organization and U.S. BMI classifications.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Data on Asian American adults (n = 7,414) from the National Health Interview Survey for 1997–2005 were analyzed. Diabetes prevalence was estimated across weight and ethnic group strata.
RESULTS Regardless of BMI classification, Asian Indians and Filipinos had the highest prevalence of overweight (34–47 and 35–47%, respectively, compared with 20–38% in Chinese; P < 0.05). Asian Indians also had the highest ethnic-specific diabetes prevalence (ranging from 6–7% among the normal weight to 19–33% among the obese) compared with non-Hispanic whites: odds ratio (95% CI) for Asian Indians 2.0 (1.5–2.6), adjusted for age and sex, and 3.1 (2.4–4.0) with additional adjustment for BMI.
CONCLUSIONS Asian Indian ethnicity, but not other Asian ethnicities, was strongly associated with diabetes. Weight classification as a marker of diabetes risk may need to accommodate differences across Asian subgroups.