Abstract
Background: Bariatric surgery is the most effective current treatment option for patients with severe obesity. More children and adolescents are having surgery, many whose parents have also had surgery. The current study examines whether parental surgery status moderates the association between perceived social support, emotional eating, food addiction and weight loss following surgery, with those whose parents have had surgery evidencing a stronger relationship between the psychosocial factors and weight loss as compared to their peers. Methods: Participants were 228 children and adolescents undergoing sleeve gastrectomy between 2014 and 2019 at one institution. Children and adolescents completed self-report measures of perceived family social support, emotional eating, and food addiction at their pre-surgical psychological evaluation. Change in body mass index (BMI) from pre-surgery to 3, 6, and 12 months post-surgery was assessed at follow-up clinic visits. Parents reported their surgical status as having had surgery or not. Results: There were no differences in perceived family support, emotional eating, or food addiction symptoms between those whose parents had bariatric surgery and those whose parents did not. There were some moderating effects of parent surgery status on the relationship between social support, emotional eating/food addiction, and weight loss following surgery. Specifically, at 3 months post-surgery, higher change in BMI was associated with lower perceived family support only in those whose parents had not had surgery. More pre-surgical food addiction symptoms were associated with greater weight loss at 3 months for those whose parents had not had surgery, whereas this finding was true only for those whose parents had surgery at 12 months post-surgery. Conclusions: Children and adolescents whose parents have had bariatric surgery may have unique associations of psychosocial factors and weight loss. More research is needed to determine mechanisms of these relationships.
Highlights
The obesity epidemic in the United States affects both adults and children, with a remarkable projection that by 2030, more than 75% of adults will suffer from obesity [1]
With regard to children of parents who have had bariatric surgery, research has noted that there are associations with poorer family functioning and less support for healthful eating and exercise for those with children who suffer from obesity [13]. These findings indicate that the potential buffer of social support from families in bariatric surgery for children and adolescents overall and that family functioning may be poorer in families with children and adolescents with obesity whose parents have had bariatric surgery themselves
Participants reported a moderate amount of perceived family support, minimal food addiction symptoms, and low desire to eat under various emotional states
Summary
The obesity epidemic in the United States affects both adults and children, with a remarkable projection that by 2030, more than 75% of adults will suffer from obesity [1]. The current study examines whether parental surgery status moderates the association between perceived social support, emotional eating, food addiction and weight loss following surgery, with those whose parents have had surgery evidencing a stronger relationship between the psychosocial factors and weight loss as compared to their peers. Change in body mass index (BMI) from pre-surgery to 3, 6, and 12 months post-surgery was assessed at follow-up clinic visits. Parents reported their surgical status as having had surgery or not. There were some moderating effects of parent surgery status on the relationship between social support, emotional eating/food addiction, and weight loss following surgery. More research is needed to determine mechanisms of these relationships
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