Eating Frequency and Visceral Adipose Tissue, Body Fat, and Obesity Risk in Hispanic College Freshmen
Condition: Obesity; Metabolic Disease; Eating Behavior; Adiposity; Sleep; Physical Activity
MeSH terms: Obesity; Metabolic Diseases
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Due to the increased focus on education and changing lifestyle, college students are
      particularly susceptible to poor overall health and wellness due to inadequate sleep and poor
      dietary choices. This is particularly important because the behavioral choices college
      students make may affect their risk of chronic disease. This study will research these topics
      via an online survey, in person visit and stool sample.
    

Detailed description: 
      It is important for college students to establish healthy habits during college because they
      are likely to stay with them throughout their lives. The transition to college has been
      identified as a critical period contributing to the rise in obesity rates. Several studies
      have shown that the initial transition to college is associated with rapid weight gain and
      the average weight gain in the first year of college ranges from 3.5 to 8.8 pounds. While
      decreased dietary fiber, fruits and vegetables and junk food consumption are among the
      dietary factors that have been linked to increased obesity rates in college students, little
      is known about the effect of eating patterns on health in this population. Furthermore, lack
      of sleep, smoking, binge drinking, and infrequent eating are all associated with negative
      health outcomes. Previous work with college age youth has found that several behaviors
      cluster together. The goal of the Online Survey portion is to expand on current findings, as
      well as examine the interrelationships of alcohol use, sleep, smoking, and eating patterns
      with adiposity and metabolic disease risk in a population of freshmen college students.

      Eating frequency research has consistently found a negative association between the number of
      eating occasions (EOs) per day and adiposity, as well as metabolic disease risk in both youth
      and adult populations. Our group has shown that infrequent eating is linked to increased
      obesity measures, blunted insulin action, and deleterious lipid parameters in multiple
      populations of overweight Hispanic youth (8-18y). However, to date, no group has looked at
      the effect of eating frequency on adiposity and metabolic disease risk in a sample of
      overweight Hispanic college freshmen. In 2012, for the first time in history Hispanic high
      school graduates (69%) were more likely to be enrolled in college than Non-Hispanic Whites
      (NHW; 67%) and Blacks (63%) and last year Hispanic students represented 24% of freshman
      enrollment at the University of Texas at Austin (UT), Hispanics also showed the largest
      increase among all minority groups. Thus, the goal of the In-Person Visit is to examine the
      relationship between eating frequency and adiposity/metabolic disease risk in this extremely
      high-risk population of Hispanic freshmen and potentially identify interventions that may
      reduce this risk within such a crucial period of life.

      The human body contains 100 trillion microbes, and microbial genes outnumber human genes
      100:110. Over the past decade, interest in the complex ecosystem of gut microbiota has
      increased immensely and research has uncovered a relationship between gut microbiota,
      metabolic disease, and obesity. Both diet and obesity have been shown to alter the gut
      microbiota12,13. However, few studies have investigated how individual dietary components can
      affect the gut microbiota in humans. The Stool Sample portion of the study is an exploratory
      investigation of the relationship between dietary components and gut microbiota composition
      in college-aged Hispanic freshmen.
    

Observational model: Case-Only
Time perspective: Cross-Sectional
Sampling method: Probability Sample
Study population: 
        For the survey portion of this study will be general in that participants must be currently
        enrolled freshmen students at UT Austin. Students can be male or female and of any
        ethnicity. Participants must be 18 years of age or older.

        The In-Person Visit inclusion/exclusion criteria will be more extensive and include the
        following:

        Ethnicity: This portion of the study will be limited to self-reported Hispanics because of
        their high risk of visceral adiposity and metabolic disorders.

        Eating Frequency We will enroll half Infrequent Eaters (≤2 EOs per day) and half Normal
        Eaters (≥3 EOs per day). Eating frequency groups will be identified via the previous survey
        data and verified with 24-hour diet recalls.

        BMI Status: We will include a natural selection of normal, overweight and obese students
        based on the Centers for Disease Control growth charts.
      
Biospecimen description: 
      Fasting Blood Draw: A fasting blood sample of four tablespoons will be obtained using a
      certified phlebotomist.

      Stool Sample: Participants will be instructed to collect the fecal sample wipe, which will
      then be stored in a labeled biosafety bag.