DIET/ACTIVITY OF MEXICAN AMERICAN AND ANGLO CHILDREN

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There are very few longitudinal study populations of Mexican-American and Anglo-American children and their parents which simultaneously investigate cardiovascular, behavioral and physiologic risk factors from preschool through early adolescence. Most of the studies of the determinants of diet and physical activity in children are cross-sectional. The current study population, still robust in cohort retention (nearly 68 percent after 7 years) will pass through adolescence in the next 3 years. This provides a unique opportunity to extend and combine the rich data already collected between ages 4-7, and again at ages 10-11, to the age period of [14-16] years. This study will continue the strengths of prior assessments of risk factors, health behaviors and behavioral determinants, but add adolescent-relevant measures of smoking behavior, feelings associated with depression, and peer influences; changing parental influences are also assessed. This study period will also concentrate on the influence of acculturation on these health behaviors in the Mexican-American population. This longitudinal study will add important data for investigators seeking a scientific basis for experimental manipulation of factors in intervention trials with youth of specific gender, ethnic and age characteristics. The specific aims of the study are prospective and cross-sectional, and for many of these aims, gender and ethnicity can be assessed as mediators of associations. In this study of young people and their mothers from two ethnic groups, aims of prospective analyses are to: 1. Study the determinants of physical activity and dietary intake of total fat, saturated fat, sodium, and energy, and changes in these behaviors in 4 year olds to [14-16] year olds. 2. Determine the relationships between diet and physical activity practices and physiologic indicators of risk, such as blood pressure, adiposity, body mass index, and serum lipoproteins at ages 4 to [14-16]years. 3. Describe the degree of tracking of physical activity habits and dietary intake of fat, sodium, and energy in 4 to [14-16] year olds. 4. Study the impact of changing acculturation on dietary and physical activity behaviors in Mexican-American parents and children from ages 4 to [14-16] years. Aims of cross-sectional analyses are to: 1. Determine the associations among physical fitness, adiposity, and smoking to CVD physiologic and behavioral risk factors in [14-16] year old Mexican-American and Anglo-American youth. 2. Examine the relationship of depression to cardiovascular risk behaviors of diet, physical activity and fitness, and smoking in Mexican-American and Anglo-American [14-16] year olds.