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Objectives Children 10–20 years old in the US are currently obese, showing suboptimal hydration as 60% fail to meet the US Dietary Reference Intakes for water. Studies have shown a significant inverse association between hydration status and body composition in children, although most failed to use the Dual-X-Ray Absorptiometry Scan (DEXA), the gold standard for body composition. Limited studies used an objective marker to measure hydration, such as urine specific gravity (USG) from a 24-h urine collection. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between hydration status (measured from USG in a 24-h urine sample and assessed from three 24-h dietary recalls) and body fat % and lean mass (assessed from a DEXA scan) in children (10–13 years, n=34) and adolescents (18–20 years, n=34). Methods Body composition was measured using DEXA, total water intake (mL/d) was assessed from three 24-h dietary recalls and analyzed using the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR). Hydration status was objectively measured using USG via 24-h urine collection. Results Overall body fat % was 31.7 ± 7.31, total water intake was 1746 ± 762.0 mL/d, and USG score was 1.020 ± 0.011 uG. Linear regressions showed significance between total water intake and lean mass (B=12.2, p Conclusions Findings showed total water intake was significantly associated with lean mass. Future research should be conducted to explore other objective markers of hydration and with a larger sample.

ObjectiveThis randomized control trial aimed to determine the effect of a Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) based, urban gardening, cooking and nutrition education intervention on health behavior mediators and fruit and vegetable intake in food insecure college students.ParticipantsParticipants included 89 food insecure college students (86% female, 59% Hispanic) randomized into a control (n=42) or intervention group (n=47).InterventionIntervention participants attended a 6-week hands-on, cooking and gardening nutrition education program. Surveys and anthropometric measurements for both groups were assessed at baseline and post-intervention.ResultsStudents who participated in the intervention experienced a significant improvement in self-efficacy (F=17.65, PF=4.16, P=.045), personal (F=5.65, P=.020) and family (F=5.36, P=.023) health views, and increased fruit and vegetable intake (F=19.19, PConclusions and ImplicationsA SCT based cooking and gardening nutrition program tailored to food insecure college students may help improve health behavior mediators and fruit and vegetable intake.

Energy compensation indices are commonly used to examine self-regulation of food intake in children. However, previous studies failed to consider children’s ability to self-regulate under complete autonomy. This study examined self-regulation of food intake among young children and the effect of calorie manipulation on food/nutrient intake using an unlimited lunch buffet paradigm. Participants were 66 children (M(age) = 6.14, SD = 1.15 years; 68.2% male; 89.4% Latinx; 59.1% overweight/obese [OV/OB]). Children participated in a crossover research trial, one week apart. Participants consumed 2 different types of preloads followed by an ad-libitum lunch during each trial. A compensation index (COMPX) was calculated to identify the level of self-regulation in food intake. Food/nutrient intake was compared between both sessions. Results indicated OV/OB children showed poorer self-regulation compared to healthy weight children (t=2.19, p = .032; Hedges’ g = 0.55). There were significant differences in food intake/selection between OV/OB and healthy weight groups. OV/OB children consumed a higher amount of calorie, fat, and cholesterol after the high energy preload compared to healthy weight children (d’s range: 0.31-0.48). Our findings support differences between the amount of self-regulation between normal and OV/OB children as well as the items they select in order to compensate.