Association between genetic obesity susceptibility and mother‐reported eating behaviour in children up to 5 years

Abstract

Summary Background Many genetic polymorphisms identified by genome‐wide association studies for adult body mass index (BMI) have been suggested to regulate food intake. Objective The objective was to study the associations between a genetic obesity risk score, appetitive traits, and growth of children up to age 5 years, with a longitudinal design. Methods In 1142 children from the Etude des Déterminants pre et post natals de la santé de l'ENfant (EDEN) birth cohort, a combined obesity risk‐allele score (BMI genetic risk score [GRS]) was related to appetitive traits (energy intake up to 12 mo, a single item on appetite from 4 mo to 3 y, a validated appetite score at 5 y) using Poisson regressions with robust standard errors. The potential mediation of appetitive traits on the association between BMI‐GRS and growth was assessed by the Sobel test. Results Children with a high BMI‐GRS were more likely to have high energy intake at 1 year and high appetite at 2 and 5 years. High energy intake in infancy and high appetite from 1 year were related to higher subsequent BMI. High 2‐year appetite seemed to partially mediate the associations between BMI‐GRS and BMI from 2 to 5 years (all P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions Genetic susceptibility to childhood obesity seems to be partially explained by appetitive traits in infancy, followed by an early childhood rise in BMI.

Associations between Children’s Genetic Susceptibility to Obesity, Infant’s Appetite and Parental Feeding Practices in Toddlerhood

“…As previously described, genotyping candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was conducted at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge (iPLEX platform; Sequenom) [ 40 ]. Among the 32 loci identified by Speliotes et al as having genome-wide significant associations with BMI in adults [ 41 ], in the present study, we considered the 16 SNPs also showing associations with childhood BMI in that original report [ 41 ] or in subsequent data [ 42 ], as in previous studies [ 6 ]. Briefly, a combined obesity risk-allele score, indicating genetic susceptibility to obesity (BMI-GRS), was calculated for each included infant as the sum of risk alleles (0, 1 or 2) associated with higher BMI across the 16 SNPs.…”

“…A great number of the genes identified by genome-wide association study of obesity and also those from studies of monogenic forms of severe childhood obesity appear to be involved in the central regulation of food intake [ 5 ]. Moreover, several studies have shown that genetic susceptibility to obesity affects infant [ 6 ] and child’s appetite [ 4 , 7 ] and that early appetite is related to the child’s weight status later in childhood [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

“…They have especially suggested that parents may adapt their feeding practices to the appetite of their child (i.e., using restriction if the infant’s appetite is considered high) [ 31 ] and to the child’s weight status [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. The child’s genetic susceptibility to obesity appeared positively related to infant’s appetite [ 6 ] and to appetitive traits in childhood [ 7 , 37 ], but a recent review stated that it remains unclear how genetic and parental feeding practices interact to influence child’s appetite [ 38 ].…”

How Lifestyle Factors Affect Cognitive and Executive Function and the Ability to Learn in Children

“…As indicated above, feelings of hunger or feeling over-full both might affect children’s ability to process information in a manner conducive to learning. Eating in the absence of hunger, or overeating [29], is a contributor to excess body fat and childhood obesity [30]. Studies aimed at understanding the relationship between obesity and cognition during childhood have only recently emerged, and the majority of findings have been limited to the domain of executive control [31,32,33].…”

When should cardiovascular prevention begin? The importance of antenatal, perinatal and primordial prevention

“…63,64 Another recent study has reported that genetic susceptibility to develop overweight and obesity might be correlated with appetitive traits in children, which therefore might benefit from family counselling. 65 This result stresses the tight relationship between the genetic component and the environment, with a close and reciprocal influence. For this reason, although the genetic patrimony cannot be directly influenced, it is important to stress the role of healthy behaviours in the family, in order to try to at least partially counteract inherited genetic traits that increase the risk of developing ASCVD risk factors.…”