Veggie Meter® as an Objective Dietary Assessment Tool in Hispanic Parent - Adolescent Dyads Living in South Florida

Hispanic youth in the United States have the highest rates of obesity, leaving them susceptible to developing chronic disease in adulthood. Adequate fruit and vegetable intake is associated with a reduced risk for chronic disease and shows promise in being protective of weight gain with age. This thesis sought to examine significant predictors of fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) measured by the ASA24® Dietary Assessment Tool and skin carotenoid scores (SCS) measured by the Veggie Meter® in both parents and adolescents. The evaluated predictors were biological sex, age, Body Mass Index (BMI), weight status category, household income, and acculturation. Associations between FVI and SCS were examined through unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models. The sample consisted of parent-adolescent dyads at baseline (n = 47) enrolled in an ongoing randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of the Healthy Together (“Juntos”) digital lifestyle intervention for Hispanic families (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT06489262). There were no significant predictors of FVI for adolescents; however, household income was a significant predictor of FVI in parents (p = .02). BMI was negatively associated with SCS in adolescents (β_est = -9.73; 95%CI: -15.02, -4.44; R² = .257, p < .01). Similarly, weight status category was a predictor of SCS in adolescents (p < .01). In a model adjusted for sociodemographic variables, there was a significant positive association between FVI and SCS in adolescents, with FVI as the predictor variable and SCS as the outcome variable (β_est = 14.45, 95%CI: 1.51, 27.40; p = .03). The adjusted model for adolescents accounted for an estimated 59% of variance in adolescent SCS (R² = 0.59). Additionally, meeting national guidelines for fruit intake for both adolescents (β_est = -55.83; 95%CI: -106.32, - 5.53; p = .03) and parents (β_est = -62.96; 95%CI: -121.52, -4.40; p = .04) was positively associated with SCS. The Veggie Meter® shows promise as an objective biomarker measure of FVI in this population.