EFFECTS OF NUTRITION AND WEIGHT PERCEPTIONS ON DIETARY PATTERNS IN HISPANIC YOUTH

Purpose: Increasing obesity rates continue to be a prevalent problem among Hispanic youth. This study applies Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs to evaluate how weight perceptions and nutritional beliefs are associated with dietary behaviors in Hispanic youth. Understanding dietary behaviors from a TPB perspective can guide obesity prevention efforts in this high-need population. Methods: FIT for Health is an 8 week, on-going medical and graduate student run obesity prevention program for Hispanic families with an overweight (BMI% > 85th) child (ages 8 - 10 years). Baseline data was collected on 55 children (45% female; 45.5% > 95th BMI%; mean age = 9.18 ? 1.36, 58.2 % Hispanic) that included the SPAN self-report questionnaire which measured youth's nutrition behavior and attitudes. Results: Correlational analyses found that perception of weight status was significantly associated with consuming less unhealthy foods (r = 0.35; p = 0.01), and not associated with consuming healthy foods (r = .16; p = .24). Nutrition attitudes were not significantly associated with healthy (r = 0.10; p = 0.54) or unhealthy (r = -0.04; p = 0.80) dietary patterns. Conclusions: These findings indicate that in Hispanic youth, a perception of being overweight is associated with dietary behaviors to reduce unhealthy food consumption. Attitudes towards weight status may provide potential intervention strategies for obesity prevention programs in minority youth.