Health Measures and Diet in Mexican American Adolescents in Chicago

Abstract

Recent trends in health patterns place Mexican American (MA) youth at risk for future problems. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of risk factors for chronic disease, characterize nutrient intake, and explore their relationships in MA adolescents. A total of 50 adolescent-parent pairs were recruited from a predominantly MA high school in Chicago. Student data included information on glucose, lipids, blood pressure, anthropometrics, and diet recalls. Family history and anthropometric measures were obtained from a parent. Prevalence of overweight (OW) and obesity were 18% and 26%, respectively. Body mass index was positively associated with systolic blood pressure, LDL, waist circumference, and parental weight status and inversely related to intake of calories, carbohydrate, folate, grains, and the healthy eating index. Prevalence of undesirable fasting glucose was 28%, undesirable total cholesterol was 33%, undesirable LDL was 22%, and undesirable HDL was 24.5%. The metabolic syndrome was more prevalent in men than women. All correlations noted are significant (P < .05).