Determinants of dietary intake in a sample of white and Mexican-American children

To assess the influence of several potential psychosocial determinants on children's eating behavior.

Three hundred fifty-one Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white children (mean age = 4.4 years old at baseline) participated in the San Diego Study of Children's Activity and Nutrition for up to 2.5 years.

Child's eating behavior was described by 3 dependent variables: total energy, percentage energy from fat, and sodium intake per 1,000 kcal. Dietary information was collected 4 days a year using a 24-hour food intake record, which was a combination of direct observation and interviews with food preparers. The 35 predictor variables from child, parental, demographic, and environmental domains were collected by behavioral observation, interviewer-administered questionnaires, and physical measurements.

Bivariate and regression analyses via mixed linear models were performed.

Variables from the children's domain (such as skinfold thickness and weight) had the strongest associations with energy intake; parental variables (such as fat avoidance behavior and prompts to increase children's food intake) were associated with child's percentage energy from fat and sodium intake. In regression analyses, parsimonious subsets of variables accounted for 46% of variance in energy intake (3 variables), 40% of the variance in percentage of energy from fat (4 variables), and 44% of variance in sodium intake per 1,000 kcal energy (1 variable) in between-subject variance components.

Fat and sodium intake of children may be improved by improving parents' nutrition habits and by having parents encourage children to eat a healthful diet. Few modifiable correlates of children's energy intake were identified.