At A Glance

Website

https://sites.cscc.unc.edu/hchs/

Purpose

Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL): A multi-center epidemiologic study in Hispanic/Latino populations to assess the role of acculturation in the prevalence and development of disease, and to identify factors playing a protective or harmful role in the health of Hispanics/Latinos.

Hispanic Community Children's Health/Study of Latino Youth (HCCH/SOL Youth): To examine factors associated with childhood obesity and cardiometabolic risk among a diverse sample of Hispanic/Latino children living in the U.S.

Target Population

HCHS/SOL: The target population of 16,000 persons of Hispanic/Latino origin, specifically Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican, and Central/South American, were recruited through four Field Centers in Miami, FL, San Diego, CA, Chicago, IL and the Bronx, NY.

HCCH/SOL Youth: Hispanic/Latino children (8-16 years old; target N=1600) living in one of four U.S. cities (Bronx, NY, Chicago, IL, Miami, FL, and San Diego, CA). These were children whose parents/legal guardians participated in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL).

Conducted

HCHS/SOL: The first assessment occurred during 2008-2011. Annual follow-up interviews are conducted to determine health outcomes of interest. The second assessment occurred during 2014-2017. The third assessment occurred during 2020-2023.

HCCH/SOL Youth: Children were enrolled from December 2011 to December 2013.

Sponsor

HCHS/SOL is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and six other institutes, centers, and offices of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) contributed to the first phase of the project.

HCCH/SOL Youth was supported by Grant Number R01HL102130 from the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Special Note(s)

HCHS/SOL assesses several variables not assessed in the HCCH/SOL Youth. These include: some demographics, physical activity, and sleep variables as well as a sleep study. Sleep actigraphy data is available from the Sueño Ancillary study.

Sampling

Sample Design

The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) was conducted in 4 field centers (Bronx, NY, Chicago, IL, Miami, FL and San Diego, CA). Participants were enrolled from a randomly selected set of household postal addresses in the target communities. For SOL Youth, all HCHS/SOL participant households were further screened for any residing children. Children aged 8-16 years living with at least one parent or legal guardian who participated in HCHS/SOL were eligible for SOL Youth. If a HCHS/SOL participant had more than one eligible child, all who qualified were enrolled.

Source of Information

https://sites.cscc.unc.edu/hchs/; https://biolincc.nhlbi.nih.gov/studies/hchssol/?q=hchs

Annual Reference Date

n/a

Sample Size

The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) started with 16,415 enrollees.

Ultimately, 1,466 child participants aged 8-16 years whose parents/legal guardians participated from the HCHS/SOL households were enrolled for SOL Youth from December 2011 to December 2013. Of these, 1,129 study children and 789 parent/primary caregiver participants from 775 households gave consent/assent for their data to be released for public use.

Special Note(s)

Efforts were made to complete examinations for persons identified as eligible in order to reduce bias from non-response. Language barriers were not a reason for exclusion for Spanish speakers not proficient in English, since all contact with participants was done using the appropriate language.

Key Variables

Demographic

Name	Methods of Assessment
Gender/sex of child and parent/guardian	Interview with child and parent/guradian
Race/ethnicity of child and parent/guardian	Interview with child and parent/guradian
Country of origin	Interview with parent/guardian
Hours of work for child and parent/guardian	Interview with child and parent/guradian
Marital status	Interview with parent/guardian
Employment status of child and parent/guardian	Interview with child and parent/guradian
Disabilities of parent/guardian	Interview with parent/guardian
Education level of parent/guardian	Interview with parent/guardian
Health insurance status	Interview with parent/guardian
Health insurance coverage type	Interview with parent/guardian
Age of child and parent/guardian	Interview with child and parent/guradian
Housing type	Interview with parent/guardian
Public assistance program enrollment of general, welfare, SNAP, WIC, food stamps, Medicaid, TANF	Interview with parent/guardian
Income of parent/guardian	Interview with parent/guardian
Grade of child	Interview with parent/guardian
Household size	Interview with parent/guardian
Neighborhood/Community characteristics	Interview with parent/guardian
Length living in US	Interview with parent/guardian
Date of birth of child	Interview with parent/guardian
Employment history of parent/guardian	Interview with parent/guardian
Family composition/structure: number of people in household	Interview with parent/guardian
Home ownership vs. Renting	Interview with parent/guardian
Language spoken at home	Interview with parent/guardian
Language (only Spanish, Spanish better than English, both equally, English better than Spanish, only English)	Interview with parent/guardian
Occupation of parent/guardian	Interview with parent/guardian
Pregnancy history (i.e., birth order, spacing between pregnancies)	Interview with parent/guardian
Weight of parent/guardian	Interview with parent/guardian
Zip code (personal identifier)	Interview with parent/guardian

Diet-Related

Name	Methods of Assessment
Eating disorders (risk screener)	Interview with child
Frequency of eating out	Interview with child
Frequency of family meals	Interview with parent/guardian
Food available at home (chocolate candy, other candy, raw fruit, cakes, brownies, muffins, cookies, chips/crackers, baked chips, raw vegetables, 100% fruit juice, juice drinks, regular sodas with sugar, diet sodas, sports drinks, fruit roll-ups/dried fruit, regular/2% milk, 1%/fat free milk, sweetened breakfast cereal, unsweetened breakfast cereal)	Interview with parent/guardian
Food security status	Interview with parent/guardian
Impact of food insecurity (did not eat, lost weight, worry, economic hardship)	Interview with parent/guardian
Food sufficiency	Interview with parent/guardian
Parental/family eating rules	Interview with child and parent/guardian
Foods available at school: vending machines, sugar-sweetened beverages, snacks, brand name fast foods, carts/trucks outside	Interview with child
Foods served at school	Interview with child
Intake of calories	24-hour recall
Use of dietary supplements	24-hour recall
Nutrient content	24-hour recall
Food groups	24-hour recall
Amount of food/nutrient consumed	24-hour recall
Sugar/added sugar intake	24-hour recall
Water consumption	24-hour recall
Intake of micronutrients	24-hour recall
Intake of alcoholic beverages	Questiionnaire with adolescent
Food expenditure for food eaten away from home	Interview with adolescent
Lab test data: glucose, insulin, lipid profile	Measured
Glucose meter reading	Measured
Blood pressure	Measured
Types of stores available	Questionnaire with adult

Physical Activity-Related

Name	Methods of Assessment
Availability of places for physical activity: school playground/field	Interview with child
Frequency of attending PE classes	Interview with child
Frequency of recess	Interview with child
Perceptions of neighborhood (safety, traffic)	Interview with parent/guardian
Neighborhood safety (crime rates)	Interview with parent/guardian
Availability of physical activity facilities and equipment	Interview with parent/guardian
Frequency of active travel (walk/bike)	Interview with parent/guardian
Fitness step test	Measured
Length of physical activity	Actigraphy
Intensity of physical activity	Actigraphy
Frequency of transit, walking, and bicycle trips	Interview with child
Frequency of physical activity from household chores	Interview with child
Frequency of bicycle use by child	Interview with child
Amount of screen time: tv, videogames, phone, compuer & internet	Interview with child
Frequency of screen time: videogames	Interview with child
Household rules/practices regarding screen time: tv, videogames	Interview with child and parent/guardian
Barriers for doing outdoor activities	Interview with child
Frequency or amount of time spent in sedentary activity	Interview with child
Frequency of exercise/PA	Interview with child
Psychosocial measures (i.e., beliefs, attitudes/perceptions) related to physical activity	Interview with child and parent/guardian
Mode of active travel (walk/bike)	Interview with parent/guardian
Frequency of leisure-time physical activity	Interview with parent/guardian
Time spent sitting	Interview with parent/guardian
Type of exercise/physical activity	Interview with parent/guardian

Sleep-Related

Name	Methods of Assessment
Sleep duration and quantity: Total sleep time during weekends/holidays	Interview with child and parent/guardian
Sleep duration and quantity: Total sleep time during workdays/schooldays	Interview with child and parent/guardian
Physical sleep environment: Access to cell phone	Interview with parent/guardian
Physical sleep environment: Other electronics in sleep area	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep-related substance use: Nicotine	Questionnaire with adolescent
Daytime fatigue/sleepiness and/or alertness	Interview with parent/guardian
Naps	Actigraphy
Physical sleep environment: light	Actigraphy
Sleep continuity: Sleep latency	Actigraphy
Sleep continuity: Total time asleep while in bed (sleep efficiency)	Actigraphy
Sleep continuity: Total time awake after sleep onset	Actigraphy
Sleep continuity: Sleep fragmentation	Actigraphy
Sleep disordered breathing: Observed breathing pauses while sleeping	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep disordered breathing: Snoring	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep disordered breathing: Coughing	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep disturbances and quality: Subjective satisfaction	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep disturbances and quality: Trouble falling back asleep at night	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep disturbances and quality: Waking up too early	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep disturbances and quality: Sleep difficulies causing irritability	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep disturbances and quality: Trouble staying asleep	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep duration and quantity: Total sleep time during weekends/holidays	Actigraphy
Sleep duration and quantity: Total sleep time during workdays/schooldays	Actigraphy
Sleep duration and quantity: Total sleep time	Actigraphy
Sleep timing and regularity: Midpoint of sleep	Actigraphy
Sleep timing and regularity: Sleep timing on weekends/holidays	Actigraphy
Sleep timing and regularity: Sleep timing on workdays/schooldays	Actigraphy
Sleep timing and regularity: Time to bed	Interview with parent/guardian
Sleep timing and regularity: Time woke up	Actigraphy
Sleep-related substance use: Use of sleep aids	Interview with parent/guardian

Weight-Related

Name	Methods of Assessment
Physical/sexual development	Questionnaire with adolescent
Physical/sexual development	Measured
Height (not child)	Self-report from female parent/guardian
Weight	Self-report from female parent/guardian
Height: adult and child	Measured
Weight: adult and child	Measured
Hip circumference of child and parent/guardian	Measured
Waist circumference of child and parent/guardian	Measured
BMI	Calculated
Percent body fat	Measured
Weight gain during pregnancy	Interview with parent/guardian
Weight loss, gain or maintenance attempts/history	Interview with parent/guardian
Height (not child)	Interview with parent/guardian
Lean body mass	Measured

Special Note(s)

Wrist-worn actigraphy data come from the Sueño Ancillary visit.

Data Access and Cost

Data Availability

A proposal is required to access the data. The full suite of datasets can be requested through BioLINCC.

Cost

All public-use data are available free of charge.

Geocode/Linkage

Geocode Variable(s)

State and selected city.

Existing Linkages

SOL Youth data can be linked to the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL).

Selected Publications

Methods

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3865234/

Resources