2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) The objective of this research is to validate measures of children's diet & physical activity (PA) behaviors & beliefs about diet & PA; study immediate & longer-term correlates of infant's diet & PA, including biological variables, beliefs/practices, environments, culture, & public policies; study immediate & longer-term correlates of children's body fatness & metabolic syndrome risk factors; develop & test interventions to change children's diet, PA, body composition & metabolic disease risk factors; study new & computationally feasible statistical methods for analyzing & clustering a large number of time series, & characterize the optimal policy; & determine associations between the perceived barriers/facilitators & actual Dietary Guidelines for Americans adherence by different groupings using group appropriate survey instruments. 1)Biological Influences on Children's Diet & PA - understand the influences on those behaviors.. 2)Development & Testing of Interventions to Promote Healthy Dietary Behavior among Youth for Chronic Disease Prevention - Develop & test family & school-based interventions to promote healthy dietary behaviors among families & youth for obesity & chronic disease prevention.. 3)Family Influences on the Development of Food Intake Regulation - Investigate whether the tenor of infant feeding affects infant's ability to regulate energy & growth during the first year of life.. 4)Relationships between Infant Feeding Patterns and the Development of Risk Factors for Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease & Diabetes in Early Childhood - Understand the impact of early infant feeding patterns on development of risk factors for obesity, heart disease and metabolic syndrome will provide critical information for development of effective intervention early strategies for reducing the incidence of these chronic debilitating conditions.. 5)Investigation of Dietary Intakes of Children - Identify eating pattern "typologies" associated with diet quality & obesity in children & young adults from a biracial population, using cross-sectional & longitudinal approaches.. 6)Dietary & Genetic Interactions of Isothiocyanates - In spite of the high chemopreventive potential of isothiocyantes, present in high concentrations of brassica vegetables, critical gaps in our knowledge exist on their intake & function in children & ethnic groups. An understanding how isothiocyanates induce protection in different genotypes will increase their use in cancer prevention.. 7)Statistical Analysis of Food Purchase Data - Develop & apply time series methods & procedures to analyze the POSP data from school lunchrooms within the context of experiments to change school food purchase/selection patterns.. 8)A Longitudinal Study of Athletic Self-Concept & PA Behavior in Children & Adolescents - Determine the relationship between athletic identity, PA, & weight gain in a study of adolescents.. 9)Prevention & Treatment of Obesity in Children - Utilize motiviational interventions to prevent & treat childhood obesity. 10) Predicting & Explaining Youth PA Behavior - test a promising theoretical model of youth physical activity and to validate scales measuring its constructs. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) 1) Biological Influences on Children's Diet and PA - Integrate how biological & psychosocial variables influence diet & PA using the sensitivity to bitter taste (PROP), as a biological influence on dietary intake; and adiposity, as a biological influence on PA.. 2)The Development & Testing of Interventions to Promote Healthy Dietary Behavior among Youth for Chronic Disease Prevention - Evaluate related dietary interventions with children.. 3)Family Influences on the Development of Food Intake Regulation - Will be determined through observational measures of mother-infant feeding interactions as well as a weighed food intake protocol to measure infants' energy regulation over a 24-hr period.. 4)Relationships between Infant Feeding Patterns & the Development of Risk Factors for Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease & Diabetes in Early Childhood - Through a prospective examination of relationships between feeding patterns in the first year of life & risk factors for obesity, heart disease & metabolic syndrome later in childhood. An instrument for characterizing early infant feeding behavior in different ethnic groups will be developed & validated. Infant body composition will be measured by DEXA & by anthropometry within 2 weeks of birth, every 6 months through the 2nd year of life, and yearly thereafter. Maternal and parental body composition will be measured by DEXA and anthropometry. Weighed diet records will be obtained using data collected by parents and day care providers, and parental control of feeding behavior will be assessed at birth, 1 year, and 3 years of age.. 5)Investigation of Dietary Intakes of Children - Conduct sophisticated analyses of the eating patterns and diet quality of 1243 children and 1840 young adults as they relate to obesity, using the Bogalusa Heart Study database compiled from 1973-96 surveys.. 6)Dietary and Genetic Interactions of Isothiocyanates - Undertake a short- and moderate-term approach to advance present methodology for measuring dietary intake of isothiocyanates and metabolic activity they induce. The findings are expected to provide specific targets for preventative and therapeutic interventions that will be particularly important to older children.. 7)Statistical Analysis of Food Purchase Data - Analyze the POSP data as available from school lunchrooms.. 8)A Longitudinal Study of Athletic Self-Concept and Physical Activity Behavior in Children and Adolescents - Obtain student measures on a Athletic identity questionnaire, utilizing activity monitors, evaluating parental measures and gaining an insight into the teacher measures for the child.. 9)Prevention & Treatment of Obesity in Children - Conduct a series of studies to develop a data collection protocol for future studies, and review datasets to understand possible correlations between socioeconomic status, dietary intake, and media as they relate to obesity. 10) Predicting & Explaining Youth PA Behavior - Literature review will permit an understanding of variable definition and will permit scale construction. Cognitive interviews will initiate the pilot testing of the scales followed by an analysis utilizing 500 participants. 3.Progress Report The ADODR monitors activities for the project through communication with the Center Director, consulation with the On-Site Representative, review of cooperator reports, conference calls, and site visits. 4.Accomplishments The Texas Public School Nutrition Policy Favorably Influences Student Lunch Consumption: Children's Nutrition Research Center researchers assessed the impact of the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy on student lunch consumption, in response to concerns about childhood obesity and school meals. Three years of lunch food records were collected from southeast Texas middle school students: baseline (2001-02), after local district changes (2002-03), and one year after implementation of the Texas Policy (2005-06). Following implementation of the Texas policy, student lunch consumption of protein, fiber, vitamins A and C, calcium, sodium, vegetables, energy, and milk increased, while consumption of sweetened beverages, snack chips, and percent calories from fat decreased. Most of the desired nutrients and foods (vegetables and milk) were obtained from the National School Lunch Program meal. Overall, this study documents that school nutrition policies can improve student lunch consumption. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 2) National School Lunch Meal Improves Student Lunch Consumption: Researchers at the Children's Nutrition Research Center assessed the impact of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) meal and non-NSLP foods or "competitive foods" sold in schools at lunchtime on children’s diets. Lunch food records were obtained, with information on source of each item consumed: NSLP, vending, snack bar, home, and "other". We learned that students in the "mainly NSLP" group reported higher consumption of most nutrients, milk, fruit, and vegetables, and lower intakes of sweetened beverages and candy than students in the "mainly non-NSLP" group. Students in the "mainly NLSP" group consumed more sodium, fat and saturated fat, however, and calorie intake was also higher for this group, although it was only 80% of the NSLP requirement for calories served at lunch. These results indicate the important relationship of the source of food consumed at lunchtime to the nutritional quality of the meal, and that consumption of the NSLP appears related to several positive dietary quality outcomes, but findings also support continuing efforts to reduce saturated fat and sodium in NSLP meals. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 2) Evaluating Infant Feeding Dynamics: The development of reliable and valid measures of infant feeding is critical to understanding the role of responsive feeding to rapid weight gain and the learned controls of eating in the first two years of infant life. Children's Nutrition Research Center researchers evaluated infant hunger and fullness cues and maternal responsiveness to those cues based on observational data of feeding interactions in approximately 150 ethnically diverse mothers and their 6- to 24-month infants. Infant hunger cues were coded 10 minutes prior to feeding and infant fullness cues beginning with the first bite. Responsiveness was defined as the latency between infant feeding cues and maternal actions to initiate or terminate feeding, as well as the number of infant cues given before a maternal response was observed. The behavioral dynamics of feeding during the first two years of life are suspected to contribute to rapid weight gain but are poorly documented. Our work provides new tools to evaluate feeding dynamics in infancy and toddlerhood. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 3) Juice Consumption Not Associated with Overweight: The role of juice consumption on the effect of weight gain needs to be further evaluated. Researchers at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Houston, TX, investigated the associations between 100% juice consumption, nutrient intake and weight in children 2-11 years of age. On average, children consumed less than the maximum amounts of 100% juice recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the US Dietary Guidelines. Children consuming 100% juice had higher intakes of several vitamins and minerals, and total whole fruit, and lower intakes of sodium, fat, saturated fat, discretionary fat, and added sugars. One hundred percent juice consumption was not associated with overweight or other measures of adiposity in children 2-11 years of age, suggesting that their intake of 100% juice was not excessive. Further, 100% juice consumption contributes valuable nutrients to the diets of children. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 4) Predictors of Overweight/Obesity: Children's Nutrition Research Center researchers evaluated various ethnic groups and lifestyle factors. Our team discovered that being European American, being younger in age, and smoking were all negatively associated with overweight status; being African American, having increased number of health problems, and lower physical activity were all positively associated with moderate obesity; and finally, being African American, having increased number of health problems, and lower physical activity were all positively associated with morbid obesity. The percent of young adults reporting health problems significantly increased with increasing overweight/obesity status. Mean levels of serum apolipoprotein-A and HDL-cholesterol decreased with increasing overweight status. Mean levels of serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein-B, triglycerides, blood pressure, plasma glucose, insulin and HOMA, homeostasis model assessment, increased with increasing overweigh status. Results suggest that various demographic, lifestyle, and health predictors of overweight/obesity vary by its severity, along with the occurrence of several health problems and cardiovascular risk factors in young adults. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 4) Dietary Energy Density Linkages: Dietary energy density and its relationship to other nutrition-related diseases needs to be further evaluated. Children’s Nutrition Research Center researchers published a report on dietary energy density and its relationship to obesity and the metabolic syndrome. This report confirmed that energy dense diets were related to obesity and also linked, for the first time, energy dense diets, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. For this report, our team analyzed nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002. This report called for intervention trials to reduce dietary energy density for obesity prevention and further studies to investigate the link between dietary energy density, insulin resistance, and the metabolic syndrome. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 10) Development of a Model of Youth Physical Activity Behavior: Theoretical models enable interventions to be developed that focus on known factors closely associated with a specific behavior. Few tested theoretical models of youth physical activity behavior are available to guide intervention research. Scientists at the Children's Nutrition Research Center constructed a hypothetical theoretical model of youth physical activity behavior, and existing measurement scales were located and modified. The potential outcome of this research is the development of more effective interventions, thus enhancing physical activity among youth, with the goal of reducing obesity. Future research will further develop and test the model. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 9) Assessing the Impact of School Nutrition Policy Change: A need exists to identify the impact of school nutrition policy on student dietary behaviors. Children's Nutrition Research Center statisticians utilized point of sale (POS) time series analysis to assess the impact of the policy change. Our lab discovered that compared to the baseline school year, the school nutrition policy resulted in a significant increase in the students’ consumption of most nutrients of interest, and vegetable and milk servings. In contrast, consumption of sweetened beverages (including soft drinks), dessert foods, and chips were significantly lower after the policy change. Such results would be of interest to behavioral scientists as well as applied statisticians since these findings may provide a means to alleviate childhood obesity. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 7) Understanding Beneficial Factors of Isothiocyanates: Children's Nutrition Research Center researchers analyzed two datasets of dietary intake, with particular emphasis on food sources and actual values of chemopreventive substances, isothiocynates. This accomplishment addresses the problem of obtaining baseline estimates of dietary chemopreventive substances among young adults and ethnic groups, which will help identify strategies for improving dietary methodology using biomarkers, and identifying dietary interventions to increase their intake. Using two datasets from different research studies, dietary assessment was completed on nearly 300 individuals using the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) methodology. Using statistical programs, total vegetable intake, and brassica vegetable intake (sources of isothiocyanates) and the differences of these variables by ethnic group or gender were computed. We have discovered that due to genetic variation, there is a subgroup of individuals who are most susceptible to cancer, and who potentially could benefit from isothiocyante intake. These studies can identify if there are differences in the patterns of isothiocyanate and brassica intakes by age, gender, and race/ethnic group, and eventually identify the diet gene interactions among individuals who are most susceptible to cancer and therefore require higher intake of isothiocyanate compounds. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 6) Evidence-based lactation support training: Children's Nutrition Research Center scientists in collaboration with the Texas Department of State Health Services and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine developed a two-day workshop to provide hands-on training in evidence-based lactation support for health care professionals. This project was designed to increase the ability of lactation consultants, nurses, dieticians, health administrators and physicians to locate, evaluate, and utilize scientific data in management of lactation and development of health care policies. Internet resources for lactation management were reviewed and evaluated, and a series of lectures and workshops were developed to enable participants to find reliable information, set up personalized literature searches, identify reliable internet sites, evaluate research quality, and consolidate information into policy recommendations for health care institutions. Sixty health care providers have participated in the workshop to date and are reviewing and revising breastfeeding policies at their respective institutions. The impact of this workshop is substantial and could lead to policy change and an increase in the use of evidence based breastfeeding support in health care facilities. [NP107, Component 6 Prevention of Obesity & Disease] (CNRC Project 4) 6.Technology Transfer