Inverse relation between dietary fiber intake and visceral adiposity in overweight Latino youth123

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition 2009-09, Vol.90 (5), p.1160-1166
• Main Authors: Davis, Jaimie N, Alexander, Katharine E, Ventura, Emily E, Toledo-Corral, Claudia M, Goran, Michael I
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Nutritional status, dietary intake, and body composition; Original Research Communications
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28133

Background: To date, no studies have assessed the longitudinal changes of dietary intake on metabolic risk factors in Latino youth. Objective: We assessed the relation between changes in dietary intake, specifically sugar and fiber intakes, with changes in adiposity and risk factors for type 2 diabetes in a longitudinal analysis of overweight Latino youth. Design: Overweight Latino youth ( n = 85; aged 11–17 y) underwent the following measures over 2 y [mean (±SD) time difference was 1.5 ± 0.5 y]: dietary intake by 2-d diet recalls, body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and magnetic resonance imaging, and glucose and insulin indexes by oral- and intravenous-glucose-tolerance tests. Partial correlations and repeated-measures analysis of covariance assessed the relation between changes in dietary intake with changes in adiposity and glucose and insulin indexes, independent of the following a priori covariates: sex, Tanner stage, time between visits, and baseline dietary and metabolic variables of interest. Results: Increases in total dietary fiber (g/1000 kcal) and insoluble fiber (g/1000 kcal) were associated with decreases in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) ( r = −0.29, P = 0.02, and r = –0.27, P = 0.03, for total dietary and insoluble fiber, respectively), independent of baseline covariates and change in subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue. Participants who had decreased total dietary fiber (mean decrease of 3 g · 1000 kcal −1 · d −1 ) had significant increases in VAT compared with participants who had increased total dietary fiber (21% compared with −4%; P = 0.02). No other changes in dietary variables were related to changes in adiposity or metabolic variables. Conclusion: Small reductions in dietary fiber intake over 1–2 y can have profound effects on increasing visceral adiposity in a high-risk Latino youth population.