Prospective associations between appetitive traits and weight gain in infancy

Abstract

Background: Differences in appetitive traits such as food-cue or satiety responsiveness have been hypothesized to contribute to variability in weight gain. However, existing data were largely crosssectional and could not exclude the possibility that differences in appetitive traits were consequences of differences in weight. Objective: We tested whether prospective associations between appetitive traits and subsequent weight were stronger than associations between weight and subsequent appetitive traits. Design: Data were from Gemini, which is a population-based cohort of 2402 families with twins. Parents completed a Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire to assess 4 appetitive traits for each twin at ages 3 and 15 mo. We obtained infant weights at 3, 9, and 15 mo from records of health professionals. Weight SD scores were calculated by using UK 1990 reference data. A path analysis was used to examine prospective associations in each direction over sequential 6-mo intervals and over the same 12-mo period, with the significance of differences between the 2 paths established with bootstrapping. Results: Path analyses included 2213 infants. For each appetitive trait, the path to subsequent weight (standardized coefficients: 0.17-0.33) was significantly larger than the path from weight to subsequent appetite (coefficients: 0.07-0.13). Results were confirmed when both associations were analyzed by using changes from 3 to 15 mo. Conclusion: Longitudinal analyses showed that associations between appetitive traits and subsequent weight were stronger than between weight and subsequent appetite, which supports the idea that differences in appetitive traits, in conjunction with environmental opportunities to overeat, influence weight gain in early childhood.Am J Clin Nutr 2011;94:1562-7.

Eating in the Absence of Hunger and Weight Gain in Low-income Toddlers

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The results also align with work in infants showing that parent-reported greater food responsiveness predicts greater prospective weight gain from ages 3 to 15 months. 34 Although older children showed positive affect at food presentation, this positive affect was not associated with greater BMIz at 33 months. Rather, negative affect at food removal predicted greater subsequent BMIz.…”

Behavioral susceptibility to obesity: Gene–environment interplay in the development of weight

“…Prospective analyses suggest that from the first few months of life, appetite influences the development of weight [49,Fig. 2.…”

“…Recently, we used longitudinal data from 2213 infants in Gemini (one of the two twin cohorts described in Section 5) to test the causal direction. We used structural equation modeling to demonstrate that the prospective associations between SR or FR at 3 months and weight at 9 months were significantly stronger than those between weight at 9 months and SR or FR at 15 months, when tested simultaneously [49]. This suggested that appetitive traits are more likely to drive early weight gain than the other way around.…”

Bottle-Feeding Practices During Early Infancy and Eating Behaviors at 6 Years of Age

“…High BFI during early infancy also increased the odds of mothers being especially careful to ensure that their 6-year-old child eats enough. Because maternal overcontrol of feeding practices and children' s lack of self-regulation of energy intake have been associated with childhood obesity, 2,[33][34][35] it is possible that 1 of the pathways linking breastfeeding and obesity involves behavioral mechanisms related to bottle feeding. It is important for health professionals to emphasize infant-led feeding and following infant appetite cues when advising new parents, particularly when parents are bottle feeding.…”