CORC Director Michael Goran and Research Associate Emily Ventura are the authors of an Op-Ed in the LA Times about the amount of added sugar in school breakfasts and lunches throughout Los Angeles schools. The amount of added sugar in a school breakfast alone is sometimes higher than the World Health Organization's recommendations for daily consumption of added sugar.

Two new studies from the Childhood Obesity Research Center published in Diabetes and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrate that Hispanics may be predisposed to developing fatty liver disease, which can lead to cirrhosis, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Hispanic children who carry the PNPLA3 gene variant (GG) tend to have increased liver fat, a relationship which is exacerbated with high sugar consumption.

For a video on these outcomes, please click here.

New Study Shows Higher Fructose Content of Popular Drinks

A new study from the Childhood Obesity Research Center reports that sugar content in many popular sodas and sweetened beverages may be much higher than what is reported on the nutrition label, and that fructose levels may be nearly 20% higher than popularly assumed. Although the additional calorie intake from sugar consumption is concerning, the higher level of fructose in these beverages is especially worrisome as higher fructose consumption has been associated with a higher risk for metabolic disease.
Press Release  |   Fact Sheet

USC Childhood Obesity Research Center Co-organizes Community "Eat-In" to Raise Awareness... read more

In April 2009, our paper in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine was published - we showed that after 16 weeks of dietary behavior/education overweight Hispanic children who reduced sugar by an average of 1 soda per day or increased fiber by half a serving of beans per day had beneficial improvements in type 2 diabetes risk factors. You can read the press here and the full paper by clicking: ArchivesSANO2009.pdf.

In December 2008, our perspective on ethnic disparities in obesity-related outcomes appeared in Obesity alongside a position statement on ethnic disparities in childhood obesity.

In November 2008, our paper on the persistence of pre-diabetes was published in Diabetes [Diabetes2008.pdf]. In this paper we present results from a group of 128 overweight Hispanic children who were followed for 4 years. Those children who had what we have termed “persistent pre-diabetes” had reduced beta-cell function and increasing visceral fat over time.