Sex-specific effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on eating behavior in 3-year-old Vietnamese children

Abstract

BackgroundWe previously reported that perinatal dioxin exposure increased autistic traits in children living in dioxin-contaminated areas of Vietnam. In the present study, we investigated the impact of dioxin exposure on children’s eating behavior, which is often altered in those with developmental disorders.MethodsA total of 185 mother-and-child pairs previously enrolled in a birth cohort in dioxin-contaminated areas participated in this survey, conducted when the children reached 3 years of age. Perinatal dioxin exposure levels in the children were estimated using dioxin levels in maternal breast milk after birth. Mothers were interviewed using the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ). A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the association between dioxin exposure and CEBQ scores, after controlling for covariates such as location, parity, maternal age, maternal education, maternal body mass index, family income, children’s gestational age at delivery, and children’s age at the time of the survey. A general linear model was used to analyze the effects of sex and dioxin exposure on CEBQ scores.ResultsThere was no significant association between most dioxin congeners or toxic equivalencies of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (TEQ-PCDDs/Fs) and CEBQ scores in boys, although significant associations between some eating behavior sub-scores and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9-octachlorodibenzofuran were observed. In girls, there was a significant inverse association between levels of TEQ-PCDFs and enjoyment of food scores and between levels of TEQ-PCDFs and TEQ-PCDDs/Fs and desire to drink scores. Two pentachlorodibenzofuran congeners and 1,2,3,6,7,8-hexachlorodibenzofuran were associated with a decreased enjoyment of food score, and seven PCDF congeners were associated with a decreased desire to drink score. The adjusted mean enjoyment of food score was significantly lower in children of both sexes exposed to high levels of TEQ-PCDFs. There was, however, a significant interaction between sex and TEQ-PCDF exposure in their effect on desire to drink scores, especially in girls.ConclusionsPerinatal exposure to dioxin can influence eating behavior in children and particularly in girls. A longer follow-up study would be required to assess whether emotional development that affects eating styles and behaviors is related to dioxin exposure.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12887-018-1171-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Sex-specific associations between type 2 diabetes incidence and exposure to dioxin and dioxin-like pollutants: a meta-analysis

“…Wang et al 2019;Ames et al 2019), and subsequently impact adult health. There are also interesting sex-specific effects reported in these populations (Nishijo et al 2012;Nguyen et al 2018;Tai et al 2016;Pham et al 2020;Z. Wang et al 2019;Ames et al 2019), further emphasizing the need for sex-stratified data in the epidemiology literature.…”

“…Age of exposure is an important covariate that we could not control for in our metaanalysis, but we limited our inclusion criteria to studies on adult populations to minimize variability. Childhood exposure to dioxins and DL-PCBs is associated with myriad complications that can present at birth (Tawara et al 2009;Nghiem et al 2019) and childhood (Nguyen et al 2018;Nishijo et al 2012;Tai et al 2016;Tran et al 2016;Pham et al 2020;Z. Wang et al 2019;Ames et al 2019), and subsequently impact adult health.…”

Nutritional Intervention with Dried Bonito Broth for the Amelioration of Aggressive Behaviors in Children with Prenatal Exposure to Dioxins in Vietnam: A Pilot Study

“…These districts are located within 10 km of the former Da Nang airbase and are hot spots of dioxin contamination originating from herbicide spraying in Vietnam. The subjects were children from the Da Nang birth cohort, including 238 mother and infant pairs (158 pairs in Thanh Khe and 80 pairs in Son Tra) recruited in the period 2008–2009; we reported the impacts of dioxins on their growth and neurodevelopment in follow-up studies from 1 month later to the present time [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

“…Perinatal dioxin exposure originating from the airbase can influence specific developmental aspects, as shown by the ASD-type difficulties in social interactions as well as poor general neurodevelopment, including language and motor skills, in children from the Da Nang birth cohort recruited in the period 2008–2009 in Da Nang city in Vietnam [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In these children, particularly in girls, at 3 years of age perinatal dioxin exposure influenced their eating behavior, such as enjoyment of foods, suggesting that the effects of dioxins on emotional development may lead to emaciation/obesity in the future [ 15 ]. We also investigated their neurodevelopment at 5 years of age and reported that lower planning ability and poor coordination and motor skills were associated with perinatal dioxin exposure [ 16 ].…”

Double Burden of Nutrition and some Eating Habits Characteristics of Preschool Children in Nam Hong Commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi, 2018

“…Các điểm số thành phần trong bộ câu hỏi CEBQ đã được chứng minh phản ánh tốt và độ tin cậy cao ở trẻ từ 1-13 tuổi ở nhiều nước trên thế giới như Thuỵ Điển [16], Chile [23], Canada [24], Trung Quốc [25]. Tại nước ta, việc áp dụng bộ câu hỏi CEBQ để đánh giá đặc điểm ăn uống của trẻ còn chưa phổ biến, mới có công bố mới đây của Nguyễn Thị Nguyệt Anh (2018) thực hiện trên trẻ 3 tuổi bị nhiễm chất độc Dioxin [26] là sử dụng bộ câu hỏi này. Nghiên cứu của chúng tôi cho thấy việc tăng 1 điểm số ở chỉ số EF (thích ăn) và DD (thích nước ngọt) làm giảm nguy cơ SDD ở trẻ với OR là 0,69 và 0,82, tương ứng (P<0,05).…”