The study found that 32 percent of the urban black and white children were overweight or obese compared with 44 percent of Hispanic children. Although Kimbro said the researchers can't explain those differences, they have some ideas.

Hispanic children ate more fatty foods and were far more likely to be put to bed with a bottle, they said. Fourteen percent of Hispanic children in the study took a bottle to bed, compared to 6 percent of white children and 4 percent of black children, the study said.

The researchers said bottle-to-bed kids were nearly twice as likely to be overweight or obese at age 3.

At Salt Lake City's Guadalupe School, Walker said that putting babies to bed with bottles could be easier for low-income parents working multiple jobs with busy schedules.

Plus, she said low-income families also tend to buy high-starch and high-preservative foods because they hold longer and are less expensive.

"The healthier the food the more you are going to pay," she said.

Researchers also found that children with an obese mother had nearly twice the risk of being overweight or obese than children with normal-weight moms.

Children who were breast-fed for at least six months were much less likely to be overweight, the study said. White women were the most likely to breast-feed for six months or more, at 30 percent, compared with 21 percent for Hispanics and 13 percent for blacks.

Of the three groups, Hispanic mothers "may be more likely to hold the common cultural belief that chubby children are healthier," the paper says. "This value could lead these mothers to provide more food and encourage their children to eat more, resulting in the greater prevalence of overweight in this community. Hispanic mothers are also more likely to worry when their children say they are not hungry and to continue to pressure their children to eat."

In Austin, low-income preschool Hispanic children follow the trend the researchers found, said Dr. Melissa Smith, a pediatrician and medical director of the Seton Community Health Centers, which serve large numbers of low-income, minority families.

"I definitely see children that are overweight at that age group ... but it's a little surprising that it is twice as much" for Hispanics, Smith said.

Hispanics face many barriers to good health, including poor access to care and a diet lacking in sufficient fresh fruits and vegetables, she said.

Instead of letting children watch TV, which was high across all three study groups, Smith recommended that parents emphasize play, exercise and family outings.

In her practice, she sees increasing numbers of children with type 2 diabetes, which used to called 'adult-onset diabetes' and is related to obesity.

Texas doesn't have data on type 2 diabetes in children, but the rate for adults is slightly higher than the national average.

Dr. Larry Deeb, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, said the study is sobering.

"I have now given up being astounded," he said. "Every time the new data comes out, it's more than I ever would have believed."

The study, he said, "points to the impending disaster we have with diabetes that's looming over America."

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com