Solved: the mystery of the hefty toddlers

A new study of low-income families found that Hispanic pre-schoolers are twice as likely to be obese as white or black children, but the researchers "could not find out why."

The American Journal of Public Health published the study by Rachel Tolbert Kimbro, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, and Sara McLanahan, who studied two thousand three-year-olds in twenty U.S. urban areas. They observed and interviewed families and then used a statistical method known as regression analysis to make sense of the data.

Still, they couldn't figure it out.

"Is it possible," the researchers wondered, "that Hispanic communities regard chubbiness as a healthy sign in toddlers?"

Is it possible that not one of these researchers has ever ventured into a kitchen except to get a beer out of the refrigerator?

Beans cooked in lard, tortillas dipped in oil, cheese on everything, have you ever opened a Mexican cookbook?

No?

Then you've got what it takes to publish a study on childhood obesity in America. Quick, call Princeton and see if you can get a grant.


Copyright 2006

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