Genetic factors may have a greater contribution to early development of refractive error compared to environmental factors.

Background: Infant body mass index (BMI) peak has received much interest recently as a potential predictor of future obesity and metabolic risk. No studies, however, have examined infant BMI peak in Asian populations, in whom the risk of metabolic disease is higher. Methods: We utilized data among 1020 infants from a mother-offspring cohort, who were Singapore citizens or permanent residents of Chinese, Malay or Indian ethnicity with homogeneous parental ethnic backgrounds, and did not receive chemotherapy, psychotropic drugs or have diabetes mellitus. Ethnicity was self-reported at recruitment and later confirmed using genotype analysis. Subject-specific BMI curves were fitted to infant BMI data using natural cubic splines with random coefficients to account for repeated measures in each child. We estimated characteristics of the child's BMI peak [age

BackgroundAppetitive traits in childhood such as food responsiveness and enjoyment of food have been associated with body mass index (BMI) in later childhood. However, data on appetitive traits during infancy in relation to BMI in later childhood are sparse. We aimed to relate appetitive traits in infancy to subsequent BMI and weight gain up to 24 months of age.MethodsData of 210 infants from the Singapore GUSTO mother-offspring cohort was obtained. The Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire (BEBQ) and the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) were administered to mothers when their offspring were aged 3 and 12 months respectively. Height and weight of offspring were measured at ages 3, 6, 9,12,15,18 and 24 months. The association of appetitive traits with both BMI z-score and weight gain were evaluated using multivariate linear regression.ResultsFood responsiveness at 3 months was associated with higher BMI from 6 months up to 15 months of age (p < 0.01) and with greater weight gain between 3 and 6 months of age (p = 0.012). Slowness in eating and satiety responsiveness at 3 months was significantly associated with lower BMI at 6 months (p < 0.01) and with less weight gain between 3 to 6 months of age (p = 0.034). None of the appetitive traits at 12 months were significantly associated with BMI or weight gain over any time period.ConclusionEarly assessment of appetitive traits at 3 months of age but not at 12 months of age was associated with BMI and weight gain over the first two years of life.Trial registrationClinical Trials identifier NCT01174875Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12887-015-0467-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Recent findings confirm that faster eating rates support higher energy intakes within a meal and are associated with increased body weight and adiposity in children. The current study sought to * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: Ciaran Gerard Forde; Centre for Translational Medicine, 14 Medical Drive #07-02, MD 6 Building, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Singapore 117599; Tel: +65 64070104; ciaran_forde@sics.astar.edu.sg. Clinical Trial Registry Number: NCT01174875; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ Authors' Contributions: This study was conceived and designed by CGF, AF, MFFC and LRF. Clinical analyses were performed by SS, SV, AF, ATG, and CGF and data analysis and interpretation were carried out by AF and CGF. AF and CGF prepared the draft manuscript and all authors reviewed and approved the final draft. This study was given ethical approval by ethical review boards of the KK Women's and Children's Hospital and National University Hospital in Singapore.Author disclosures: Keith Godfrey, Lee Yung-Seng and Yap Seng Chong have received reimbursement for speaking at conferences sponsored by companies selling nutritional products. They are part of an academic consortium that has received research funding from Abbott Nutrition, Nestec and Danone. Lisa Fries is an employee of Nestec SA, working at the Nestlé Research Center. The other authors have no financial or personal conflict of interests. Europe PMC Funders GroupAuthor Manuscript Physiol Behav. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2018 January 01. Europe PMC Funders Author ManuscriptsEurope PMC Funders Author Manuscripts identify the eating behaviours that underpin faster eating rates and energy intake in children, and to investigate their variations by weight status and other individual differences. Children (N=386) from the Growing Up in Singapore towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort took part in a video-recorded ad libitum lunch at 4.5 years of age to measure acute energy intake. Videos were coded for three eating behaviours (bites, chews and swallows) to derive a measure of eating rate (g/min) and measures of eating microstructure: eating rate (g/min), total oral exposure (minutes), average bite size (g/bite), chews per gram, oral exposure per bite (seconds), total bites and proportion of active to total mealtime. Children's BMIs were calculated and a subset of children underwent MRI scanning to establish abdominal adiposity. Children were grouped into faster and slower eaters, and into healthy and overweight groups to compare their eating behaviours. Results demonstrate that faster eating rates were correlated with larger average bite size (r=0.55, p<0.001), fewer chews per gram (r=-0.71, p<0.001) and shorter oral exposure time per bite (r=-0.25, p<0.001), and with higher energy intakes (r=0.61, p<0.001). Children with overweight and higher adiposity had faster eating rates (p<0.01) and higher energy intakes (p<0.01), driven by larger bite sizes (p<0.05). Eating behaviours varied by sex, ethnicity and early feeding regimes, partial...

The aims of this study were to develop and validate a prediction equation of fat-free mass (FFM) based on bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and anthropometry using air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) as a reference in Asian neonates and to test the applicability of the prediction equations in an independent Western cohort. A total of 173 neonates at birth and 140 at two weeks of age were included. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to develop the prediction equations in a two-third randomly selected subset and validated on the remaining one-third subset at each time point and in an independent Queensland cohort. FFM measured by ADP was the dependent variable, and anthropometric measures, sex and impedance quotient (L 2 /R 50 ) were independent variables in the model. Accuracy of prediction equations was assessed using intra-class correlation and Bland-Altman analyses. L 2 /R 50 was the significant predictor of FFM at week two but not at birth. Compared with the model using weight, sex and length, including L 2 /R 50 slightly improved the prediction with a bias of 0·01 kg with 2 SD limits of agreement (LOA) (0·18, −0·20). Prediction explained 88·9 % of variation but not beyond that of anthropometry. Applying these equations to the Queensland cohort provided similar performance at the appropriate age. However, when the Queensland equations were applied to our cohort, the bias increased

The Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) was developed to measure eating behaviors related to obesity risk in children. However, this questionnaire has not been validated for use in South East Asia, where parenting practices are different from those in western countries and child obesity rates are increasing. The aim of this study was to examine the validity of the CEBQ administered to mothers of children aged 3 years in Singapore. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine if the original 35-item, 8-factor model was supported in our cohort. Participants were 636 mother-child dyads (mean (SD) child age=36.7 (1.6) months), from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) birth cohort in which the mothers Request for reprints will be available from the author.Conflict of interest P.D.G., K.M.G., and Y.S.C. have received reimbursement for speaking at conferences sponsored by companies selling nutritional products. These authors are part of an academic consortium that has received research funding from Abbot Nutrition, Nestec, and Danone. None of the other authors report any potential conflict of interest. Authors ContibutionsAll authors were involved in all parts of the study and approved the final manuscript. The contributions are listed below. SMS, KMG, FY and YSC designed and led the GUSTO study. PLQ contributed to the statistical analysis and writing of the manuscript. CYB provided intellectual contribution to the write-up of the manuscript and advice on the statistical analysis. PLQ and MFFC were responsible for finalizing the manuscript. Europe PMC Funders Group Europe PMC Funders Author ManuscriptsEurope PMC Funders Author Manuscripts were characterized in pregnancy and children were followed up to age 3 years. The CFA showed a poor model fit; RMSEA=0.072 (PCLOSE<0.001), SRMR=0.094, CFI=0.826, and TLI=0.805. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 35 item, 7-factor structure (factor loadings ≥ 0.35): enjoyment of food, food fussiness, emotional overeating, desire to drink, emotional under eating, satiety responsiveness and slowness in eating. Cronbach's alpha estimates ranged from 0.70-0.88 for the 7 subscales. Convergent validity tests via correlation analysis revealed that emotional under eating (r=-0.14), slowness in eating (r=-0.16) and satiety responsiveness (r=-0.11) were negatively correlated with BMI z-score at 3 years, while enjoyment of food (r=0.12) was positively correlated, p<0.05. In conclusion, we found a revised 7-factor structure of the CEBQ more appropriate for examining eating behavior in 3 year old children in the Singapore setting. Further replication studies in a separate cohort study are warranted before further use of these factor structures generated.

Key Points Question Are elective and emergency cesarean delivery both associated with risk of childhood overweight at age 12 months? Findings In this cohort study that analyzed 727 mother-child pairs, elective cesarean delivery was significantly associated with high body mass index–for–age z score at 12 months. Emergency cesarean delivery was not significantly associated with high body mass index–for–age z score at 12 months. Meaning Choice of delivery mode may influence risk of early childhood overweight, which is a concern clinicians may discuss with patients who intend to have children.

Diet in the first month postpartum, otherwise known as “the confinement diet” in Asia, has unique characteristics that are influenced by traditions, cultures, and beliefs. We aimed to characterize dietary patterns during confinement period in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort and examined their associations with postpartum depression (PPD) and anxiety (PPA). Dietary intakes of 490 women were ascertained in the first month postpartum using 3-day food diaries and dietary patterns were derived by factor analysis. Participants completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) at three months’ postpartum; higher scores are indicative of more depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Four dietary patterns were identified: Traditional-Chinese-Confinement diet, Traditional-Indian-Confinement diet, Eat-Out diet and Soup-Vegetables-Fruits diet. The Traditional-Indian-Confinement diet was associated with less PPD symptoms [β (95% CI) −0.62 (−1.16, −0.09) EPDS score per SD increase in diet score] and a non-significant trend with reduced probable PPD (EPDS scores ≥ 13) [OR (95% CI) 0.56 (0.31, 1.01)]. The Soup-Vegetables-Fruits diet was associated with less PPA symptoms [β (95% CI) −1.49 (−2.56, −0.42) STAI-state score]. No associations were observed for other dietary patterns. Independent of ethnicity, adherence to the Traditional-Indian-Confinement diet that is characterized by intake of herbs and legumes, and Soup-Vegetables-Fruits diet high in fruits, vegetables and fish during the postpartum period were associated with less PPD and PPA symptoms, respectively.