Author(s)
Blake Jones, Sarah Worthington, Megan Overby, Isabella Wright, Kamryn Welling, Emma Tenney, Derek McClune, Carrie Jones, Darbie Francis, Zoe Taylor
Summary
Obesity is a significant problem in the U.S., with Latinx youth facing increased risks. Past studies have used cumulative risk models (CRMs) to predict obesity, but they have focused primarily on risks and not on protective factors, and research has not focused on rural Latinx youth populations. Therefore, this study focused on data from 119 rural Midwestern Latinx 10-to-12-year-old youth.The CRM included 10 risk factors from three categories (physiological, family-level, parental-level), and protective routines (sleep duration) assessed through surveys and objective measurements. Total risks were associated with increased obesity prevalence. Protective routines moderated this process, lowering obesity prevalence for children with healthy routines even when facing increased risks. These findings support previous literature, and emphasize the importance of healthy, modifiable routines. Future research and interventions should promote beneficial, protective, modifiable routines that lower the prevalence of obesity in children, especially for youth who face increased risks.
Objectives
- Assess how well a cumulative risk model predicts different BMI outcomes in a sample of rural Midwestern Latinx youth.
- Examine the influence of protective routines on lowering the risk for child obesity.
- Examine the potential influence of protective routines as moderating factors in the relationship between cumulative risks and obesity outcomes.
Subject Codes: risk factors, protective factors, physical health
Population Codes: obesity, Hispanic/Latina/o/x, rural
Method and Approach Codes: structural equation modeling (SEM), regression: linear (simple, multiple, hierarchical), mediation/indirect effects models