General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

BackgroundAlthough many cross-sectional studies reported that children with overweight or obesity show more food approaching and less food avoidant eating behaviors, there is a lack of replication in longitudinal studies. Therefore, the question remains whether healthcare professionals should target eating behaviors in childhood obesity interventions and prevention. We aimed to examine the longitudinal and possible bi-directional associations between eating behavior and body composition across childhood.MethodsData was included from 3331 children participating in the Generation R Study. At 4 and 10 years, mothers reported on the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire including the subscales Food Responsiveness, Enjoyment of Food, Emotional Overeating and Satiety Responsiveness, and children’s BMI was measured. Body composition, consisting of Fat Mass Index and Fat Free Mass Index was measured at 6 and 10 years with Dual-energy-X-ray-Absorptiometry scans.ResultsCross-lagged models including both directions of the BMI – eating behavior association showed that a higher BMI at the age of 4 years predicted more food responsiveness and enjoyment of food and less satiety responsiveness at 10 years (e.g. satiety responsiveness:β = − 0.10, 95% CI = − 0.14, − 0.07), but no associations were found in the opposite direction. For emotional overeating, however, a bi-directional association was found with BMI predicting more emotional eating and vice versa. Multivariable linear regression analyses showed that associations were stronger for Fat Mass Index than for Fat Free Mass Index.ConclusionsResults showed that a higher BMI, and particularly higher fat mass, at pre-school age predicted more food approaching and less food avoidant eating behaviors at the age of 10 years, rather than the hypothesized reverse direction. This suggests that increased adiposity in early childhood might upregulate appetite and related eating behaviors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12966-018-0725-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Parental restrictive feeding (i.e., limiting food intake of children) has been linked to childhood overweight. However, the directionality of the causal pathway remains unknown. Objective: The objectives of this study were to examine the bidirectional association of maternal restrictive feeding with children's weight and body composition across childhood and to explore a possible mediating role of maternal concern about child weight. Design: Data were available for 4689 mother-child dyads participating in Generation R, a prospective birth cohort in the Netherlands. At ages 4 and 10 y, restrictive feeding was assessed with the parent-reported Child Feeding Questionnaire, and children's body mass index (BMI) was measured. At age 6 y, fat mass index (FMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) were measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Both directions of the relation between restriction and child body composition were examined with multivariable linear regression analyses and cross-lagged modeling. Mediation analyses were performed to examine concern about child weight (mother reported at child age of 10 y) as a potential mediator. Results: Higher child sex-and age-adjusted BMI SD scores (zBMI) at age 4 y predicted more restrictive feeding at age 10 y (B = 0.15; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.18). Both sex-and age-adjusted FMI SD scores (zFMI) and sex-and age-adjusted FFMI SD scores (zFFMI) at 6 y were also positively associated with restrictive feeding at 10 y. Maternal concern about child weight partially mediated these associations from child body composition to restrictive feeding (e.g., for zBMI at 4 y: B indirect = 0.10; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.13). There was no temporal association from restrictive feeding at age 4 y to child zBMI at age 10 y after adjustment for baseline zBMI. Conclusions: The continued use of restrictive feeding practices at age 10 y appeared to be primarily a response of mothers to an unhealthy weight of their child rather than a cause of children's overweight. Guidelines discouraging restrictive feeding for preventing childhood overweight should therefore be reconsidered. Am J Clin Nutr 2017;106:783-90.

No abstract

Background: Parents' use of food as reward has been linked to children's dietary intake, but the association with children's eating behaviour and overweight risk is less clear. Objectives: To examine the temporal association of using food as reward with eating behaviour, body mass index (BMI) and weight status of children. Methods: Participants were 3642 children of the population-based Generation R Study in the Netherlands (8.3% overweight/obese). Repeated assessments were collected at child ages 4 and 9 years, including measured anthropometrics and parent reports on feeding practises and eating behaviour. Results: Linear regressions and cross-lagged models indicated that parents' use of food as reward at child age 4 years predicted Emotional Overeating and Picky Eating at age 9 years. Reversely, higher Emotional Overeating and Food Responsiveness scores were associated with more use of food as reward over time. Using food as reward was not associated with children's satiety response, BMI or overweight risk. Conclusions: A vicious cycle may appear in which children who display food approach behaviour are rewarded with food by their parents, which in turn might contribute to the development of unhealthy eating habits (emotional eating, fussiness). These findings warrant further research, to facilitate evidence-based recommendations for parents.

No abstract

BackgroundUsing cross-sectional data from The Maastricht Study, we examined the association of socioeconomic conditions in early life with prediabetes and T2DM in adulthood. We also examined potential mediating pathways via both adulthood socioeconomic conditions and adult BMI and health behaviours.MethodsOf the 3263 participants (aged 40–75 years), 493 had prediabetes and 906 were diagnosed with T2DM. By using logistic regression analyses, the associations and possible mediating pathways were examined.ResultsParticipants with low early life socioeconomic conditions had a 1.56 times higher odds of prediabetes (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.21-2.02) and a 1.61 times higher odds of T2DM (95% CI = 1.31-1.99). The relation between low early life socioeconomic conditions and prediabetes was independent of current socioeconomic conditions (OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.05-1.80), whereas the relation with T2DM was not independent of current socioeconomic conditions (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.87-1.37). BMI party mediated the association between early life socioeconomic conditions and prediabetes.ConclusionsSocioeconomic inequalities starting in early life were associated with diabetes-related outcomes in adulthood and suggest the usefulness of early life interventions aimed at tackling these inequalities.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12939-017-0553-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

No abstract