(P13-025-25) Daily Eating and Snack Occasions Were Not Associated With Body Fat Percentage in Children/Adolescents Participating in the MetA-Bone Trial

Objectives: This study evaluates the association between daily eating and snack occasions and body fat percentage in a sample of mostly Hispanic children/adolescents.

Methods: This longitudinal analysis focused on baseline, 6-month and 12-month data from 9-14 years old healthy children/adolescents from the ongoing “MetA-Bone” Trial. This was a randomized clinical trial to test the effects of soluble corn fiber vs maltodextrin supplementation for 12 months. Socio-demographic variables were collected with a questionnaire. Body fat percentage (%) was evaluated from DXA scans. Daily total eating (0-3 and >3 times) and daily snack occasions (0-1 and >1 times) were calculated from 24-hr recalls completed at each time point and analyzed with NDSR. Diet quality was assessed using the total HEI-2020 score. Since participants were asked to avoid changes in their diet over this period, the diet data from both groups were combined for this analysis. Analysis included descriptive statistics and repeated measures ANOVA (adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, Tanner stage and supplement group). 

Results: On 101 participants, baseline mean age was 11.5±1.4 years, 52.6% were female, 38.6% were White, 72.3% were Hispanic/Latino; mean tanner stage was 2.7±1.2. Overall, most participants had 3-5 daily eating occasions (79.2%) and 0-1 daily snack occasions (51.5%). In girls, body fat % did not significantly change overtime (F(1.636, 83.418) = 1.403, P= 0.251). However, in boys, body fat % significantly decreased overtime (F(1.551, 72.895)=14.825, P< 0.001). Daily eating occasions were not significantly associated with body fat % changes overtime in girls (F(3.419,75.225) = 0.631, P=0.618) or in boys F(3.207,64.141) = 0.482, P=0.708). Similarly, daily snacks were not significantly associated with body fat % changes overtime in girls (F(1.651,72.649) = 0.743, P=0.455) or in boys (F(1.568,62.730) = 2.374, P=0.113).

Conclusions: Body fat percentage decreased overtime in boys but not in girls. Daily eating and snacking occasions did not contribute to body fat % changes overtime for both boys and girls. More research is needed to understand how dietary patterns are related to changes in body composition in children/adolescents.

Funding Sources: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD.