Jessica Bustamante, Jennie Chen, Kevin Tom, and Oveyaa Vignesh University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Effect of Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation on Childhood Obesity Abstract Nutrition has long been known to play a role in a child health and well- being. However, little is known about vitamin and mineral supplementation and how it impacts weight status. The goal of this study was to explore the relationship between vitamin and mineral supplementation and child BMI. Measured height and weight and vitamin or mineral supplementation in the past week were collected from 497 preschool aged children between ages 2-5 years old. The results suggested a significant difference between vitamin and mineral supplementation and child BMI (p<.05). Children who took vitamins and minerals within the past week had a mean BMI of whereas children who did not take any vitamin or minerals in the past week had a mean BMI of Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, further research is of interest in order to determine whether or not there is a causal relationship between the two variables. Introduction For children, a diet providing adequate energy and nutrition is essential. Recently, more and more state-level and national programs promote healthy eating among young children (e.g., MyPlate). However, the problem of nutritional intake still persists. Over the past 30 years, the rate of childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents. Approximately 17% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 in the United States are obese (C.D.C. 2015). Obese children are not only subject to significant health risks such as heart disease and diabetes, but they are also at risk for low self-esteem and depression. An important and necessary next step in combating obesity in children is to educate their parents about how we can prevent and treat this disease before its effects become catastrophic. One of the ways that has been shown to help combat childhood obesity is to increase vitamin and mineral supplementation at an early age; in particular, Vitamin D has been shown to have significant health benefits that can help prevent obesity in children (Zhou, 2015). Our research question is to analyze what effect vitamin and mineral supplementation has on childhood obesity. Our hypothesis is that vitamin and mineral supplementation will decrease childhood obesity. Method The data came from the STRONG Kids Study. Our sample included 497 preschool aged children between the ages of 2-5 years old from 30 licensed child care centers in East-Central Illinois. Survey data collection took place between Spring 2009 and Summer Parents completed self-report questionnaires and child height and weight were measured. IV: Vitamin and mineral supplementation “During the past 7 days, did your child take any vitamin or mineral supplements of any kind?” Answer choices: yes, no DV: Child BMI Percentile Height and weight measured using a Health-o-meter 349KLX digital metric scale and a SECA 213 stadiometer. Child BMI Percentile calculated using BMI = weight (kg) / [height (m)] 2 Analysis: A Wilcoxon Two-Sample Test and Kruskal Wallis test were used to determine the relationship between vitamin and mineral supplementation and child BMI. A 2-tailed p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All analyses were conducted using the Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) version 9.3 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Results Discussion Our initial hypothesis was that vitamin and mineral supplement intake would decrease the risk of childhood obesity. This hypothesis was supported by the results of our study which showed a significantly lower mean child BMI in children who had taken vitamins and minerals within the past 7 days. Our findings suggest that a negative association between vitamin and mineral intake and child BMI may exist. These results assist in emphasizing the importance of programs to educate parents and children about the significant health benefits of vitamin and mineral intake. Through these educational programs, we can work towards regulating the nutritional needs of children with the intention of preventing obesity. These results are in line with and support previous studies which indicate a negative correlation between vitamin and mineral intake and child BMI (Turer & Flores, 2012) (Olson, Oden, White, & Hutchison, 2011) (Reyman & Summeren, 2013). Future Research: To explore the role of specific vitamins and minerals on obesity. To examine the effect of vitamins on older age groups such as teenagers or adults. Limitations: Lack of diversity in the STRONG Kids sample. Most were white and middle-class. Results may not be generalizable to the other racial/ethnic groups. All participants were from East-Central Illinois which may introduce geographical bias. Strengths: BMI was calculated using measured height and weight and that the design of our study is easily reproducible to verify our findings. Conclusion The results of this study indicate a negative association between vitamin and mineral intake and childhood obesity. However ther eis no direct causal relationship that can be determined from this study. Additional research needs to be done in this area to determine any implications for regulatory roles of vitamin and mineral supplementation on childhood obesity. Acknowledgements This research was supported, in part, by The Family Resiliency Center in The Department of Human and Community Development at The University of Illinois and The United States Department of Agriculture (# ). We would also like to acknowledge Drs. Katherine Speirs and Salma Musaad for their mentoring and data analysis support. Figure 2: Number of Households and Annual Income Figure 3: Number of Households and Parental Education Status Figure 1: Mean Child BMI Percentile and Supplementation Use Table 1: Participant Demographics Bivariate Analyses: Mean child BMI percentile for children who had taken a vitamin and mineral supplement during the past 7 days was lower than the mean child BMI% in children who had not taken any supplement (p = 0.025; see Fig. 1). Among children who had taken any supplement during the past 7 days, most of their families had a higher annual household income (> $25,000); whereas among children who had not taken a vitamin and mineral supplement, most of their families had a lower annual household income (< $25,000)(χ2=31.4, df = 2, p<0.0001) (see Fig. 2). Among children who had taken any supplement during the past 7 days, a majority of their parents were college/post-college graduates; whereas among children who had not taken any supplement, most of their parents were either high school or technical school graduates (see Fig. 3).