Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114333

Stephanie Fitzpatrick, BA¹, Monica L. Baskin, PhD², Jamy Ard, MD³, Thomas Lyles, BS³, Marianne Murdock, PhD, RD⁴, and Frank A. Franklin, MD, PhD⁵. (1) Health Behavior, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1530 3rd Ave S, RPHB 227, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, 205-975-0546, sfitzpatrick@uab.edu, (2) Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, RPBH 227, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, (3) Nutrition Sciences, Univeristy of Alabama at Birmingham, 441 Webb Building, 1665 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL 35294, (4) Pediatric Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital, ACC 618, 1600 6th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35294-0011, (5) Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, ACC 618, 1600 6th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35294-0011

Recent data correlates increased macronutrient (carbohydrate, protein, fat) variety scores with higher body mass index (BMI) in adults. This study investigates the relationship between BMI, macronutrient variety scores (DVS), race, gender, and income in a sample of 248 children (mean age 8.6 years, 23% with income over $70,000, 26% African-American, and 51% female). DVS was calculated using three 24-hour recalls. Unique items (i.e., each different food item only counted once, regardless of reported frequency) from the 24-hour recalls were converted to macronutrient categories using the diabetic exchange. Unique foods were categorized as a carbohydrate source if ³5 g carbohydrate per serving and ³20 calories per serving; fat if ³5g fat per serving; protein if ³7g protein per serving. DVS for each macronutrient was calculated by summing the number of unique food items with sufficient levels of the macronutrient (food items could be a unique source for more than one macronutrient). Pearson correlation coefficients, t-tests, and general linear modeling were calculated in SAS (Ver.9). A p-value of <0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Mean BMI was at the 91st %ile (range: 5th %ile £ BMI < 97th %ile) for boys and at the 87th %ile (range: 1st %ile £ BMI < 97th %ile) for girls. Mean carbohydrate DVS for the 3 days was 20.2, mean protein DVS was 6.4, and mean fat DVS was 9.8. African American children had higher 3-day total caloric intake (p=.01), carbohydrate DVS (p=.03), protein DVS (p=.003), and fat DVS (p=.004) than White children. After adjusting for total caloric intake (using mean 3-day calorie intake) African American children still differed from White children on DVS (p=.02). BMI did not differ by race, but there was a positive correlation between BMI and protein DVS (r=.25, p=.05) for African American children. Income and gender was not significantly related to BMI, total caloric intake, or DVS. Findings suggest that African-American children have greater carbohydrate, protein, and fat variety scores compared to White children. However, BMI in this sample was not related to macronutrient variety score. Potential limitations include using three days of food intake rather than a longer duration and exclusive reliance on child self-report data.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe how to calculate the macronutrient variety score from multiple 24-hour food records.
• Describe the average macronutrient content among a group of African American and White 8-11 year old children.
• Describe the relationship between the macronutrient variety score, body mass index, race, and gender among a group of 8-11 year old children.

Keywords: Children, Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.