UCSF

Objective

To determine the association of beverage consumption with obesity in Mexican American school-aged children.

Design

Cross-sectional study using the baseline data from a cohort study. Mothers and children answered questions about the frequency and quantity of the child's consumption of soda, diet soda, other sugar-sweetened beverages, 100% fruit juice, milk and water. The questions were adapted from the Youth/Adolescent FFQ. Children were weighed and measured. Data were collected on the following potential confounders: maternal BMI, household income, maternal education, maternal occupational status, maternal acculturation, child physical activity, child screen time and child fast-food consumption. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between servings (240 ml) of each beverage per week and obesity (BMI ≥ 95th percentile).

Setting

Participants were recruited from among enrolees of the Kaiser Permanente Health Plan of Northern California. Data were collected via an in-home assessment.

Subjects

Mexican American children (n 319) aged 8-10 years.

Results

Among participants, 20% were overweight and 31% were obese. After controlling for potential confounders, consuming more servings of soda was associated with increased odds of obesity (OR = 1·29; P < 0·001). Consuming more servings of flavoured milk per week was associated with lower odds of obesity (OR = 0·88; P = 0·004). Consumption of other beverages was not associated with obesity in the multivariate model.

Conclusions

Discouraging soda consumption among Mexican American children may help reduce the high obesity rates in this population.