Association of Appetitive Traits of Schoolchildren with Obesity and Those of Their Mothers

Abstract

Abstract Objectives To measure appetitive traits (AT) in mother-child dyads with obesity and identify the association between the ATs of the mothers and Body Mass Index (BMI) and the ATs of the child and BMI z-scores (BMIz). Methods In a cross-sectional study children with obesity accompanied by their biological mothers participated at the Hospital. The weight and height of the dyads were measured and mother's completed sociodemographic data and the Spanish versions of the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ-Esp), and the Children Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ-Mex). These questionnaires measure stable responses to food known as ATs using 8 subscales (traits). Four food approach traits: Food Responsiveness (FR), Emotional Over-eating (EOE), Enjoyment of Food (EF), and Desire to Drink (DD) (DD in children only); and 4 food avoidance traits: Satiety Responsiveness (SR), Emotional Under-eating (EUE), Food Fussiness (FF) and Slowness in eating (SE). Pearson´s correlations to analyze the associations between the AEBQ-Esp ATs and BMI of the mothers and the CEBQ-Mex ATs and BMIz of the children. Results Data from 308 dyads were collected. The age of the mothers was 36.1 ± 6.9 years, 39% had secondary school level education, 72% were housewives; BMI was 31.8 ± 6.3 kg/m2 and 59% were diagnosed with obesity. The age of the schoolchildren was 9.3 ± 1.8 years, 59.7% boys, and the BMIz were 2.6 ± 1.0 SD. There was a significant positive correlation between EOE and BMI (r = 0.12, P < 0.05). In children, positive significant correlations were found between BMIz and FR (r = 0.23, P < 0.01), EOE (r = 0.29, P < 0.01), EF (r = 0.20, P < 0.01) and DD (r = 0.16, P < 0.05), and negative with SE (r = −0.17, P < 0.01). Conclusions Positive association were observed between food approach ATs and BMIs of the mothers and BMIz of the children; negative associations were found with food avoidance traits and BMIs of the mothers and BMIz of the children, as expected. Funding Sources Universidad de Guadalajara and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de México.