1149-P: Associations of Specific Food Intake during Childhood and Adolescence with Insulin Resistance in Late Adolescence in Project Viva

Introduction & Objective: Dietary behaviors are possible intervention targets for type 2 diabetes prevention in youth. We examined whether intake of specific foods across childhood and adolescence were associated with insulin resistance in late adolescence.

Methods: We used data from Project Viva, a US pre-birth cohort. We measured fruit, vegetable, whole grain (servings/d), and fast food intake (less than vs. at least once/mo) in early childhood (median age: 3.1y), mid-childhood (7.6y) and early teen (12.9y) with food frequency questionnaires. We calculated HOMA-IR using fasting blood glucose and insulin measured in late adolescence (17.4y). We fit sex-specific linear regression between foods at each visit with HOMA-IR adjusting for sociodemographics, parental type 2 diabetes, and intake at prior visits.

Results: In children with HOMA-IR data in late adolescence (median [IQR] females: 2.1 [1.5-3.0], n=187; males: 2.0 [1.4-2.9], n=169), we estimated that higher fruit, vegetable, whole grain, and lower fast food intake in early childhood were associated with lower HOMA-IR in males (Table). Estimates for exposures at older ages were of smaller magnitude and less precise, and consistently null in females.

Conclusion: Eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and less fast food in early childhood may be associated with lower insulin resistance in adolescent males.

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