ABSTRACT
This study examines aspects of energy intake and physical activity in two cohorts of low-income 4 to 5-year-old children attending a Head Start preschool program. In the first year, 18 children, predominantly Hispanic and Black, were observed on two occasions near the beginning and end of the school year to examine stability in diet, activity, and weight over time. The following year, a new cohort of 24 children who were all either Hispanic or Black was similarly observed. Along with measures of height, weight, and blood pressure, diet records of everything the children ate or drank at school and at home were completed, and children wore an accelerometer over the length of the school day. No relationships between energy intake and BMI were discerned, but energy expenditure was significantly associated with BMI. Using CDC growth charts, nearly half of the children were classified as overweight or at-risk for overweight. Comparing the non-overweight children with those at risk, energy expenditure and systolic blood pressure were the only variables that differentiated the groups and were higher in the overweight classification. As energy intake and activity levels failed to differentiate the children by weight status, more research is needed on activity patterns after school that may contribute to overweight.
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