Snacking Is Longitudinally Associated with Declines in Body Mass Index z Scores for Overweight Children, but Increases for Underweight Children.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Few studies, to our knowledge, have examined the longitudinal association of snacking with child body mass index (BMI), especially in China, where the incidence of overweight and obesity has increased rapidly.

Objectives

Our objective was to examine the longitudinal association between snacking and BMI z score and to test whether this association differs by baseline weight status.

Methods

Using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (2006, 2009, and 2011), we characterized snack intake for 9 provinces and 3 megacities. We used linear mixed-effects models to examine longitudinally the association between snacking (none, low, medium, and high tertiles according to energy) and BMI z score in children aged 2-13 y at baseline, controlling for sex, urban

SUBMITTER: Taillie LS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4926857 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature