Abstract
The appetitive trait “food responsiveness” is assumed to be a risk factor for adiposity gain primarily in obesogenic environments. So far, the reported results are inconsistent in school-aged children, possibly because these studies did not take into account important moderators such as gender and the food-environment. In order to better inform caregivers, clinicians and the developers of targeted obesity-prevention interventions on the conditions in which food responsiveness precedes adiposity gain, the current study investigated if this relationship is stronger in girls and in children exposed to a higher home availability of energy-dense snacks. Age- and sex-independent Fat and Lean Mass Index z-scores were computed based on air-displacement plethysmography at baseline and after 2 years in a community sample of 129 children (48.8% boys) aged 7.5–14 years at baseline. Parents reported at baseline on children's food responsiveness and the home availability of energy-dense snacks. Food responsiveness was a significant predictor of increases in Fat Mass Index z-scores over 2 years in girls but not boys. The home availability of energy-dense snacks did not significantly moderate the relation of food responsiveness with Fat Mass Index z-score changes. The results suggest that food responsiveness precedes accelerated fat tissue accretion in girls, and may inform targeted obesity-prevention interventions. Further, future research should investigate to which food-environmental parameters children high in food responsiveness mainly respond.
Highlights
The increase in the supply of cheap, energy-dense foods, coinciding with the rise in the global obesity prevalence, is seen as a major driver of the obesity epidemic (Swinburn et al, 2011)
A significant positive relation between Food responsiveness (FR) and zFMI change was found in girls: the mean zFMI change of girls over 2 years was 0.27 higher for each unit increase in FR
The results could not be explained by drop-out differences, as no drop-out differences were found on the relevant parameters “zBMI, FR and home availability of energy-dense snacks (HAS).”
Summary
The increase in the supply of cheap, energy-dense foods, coinciding with the rise in the global obesity prevalence, is seen as a major driver of the obesity epidemic (Swinburn et al, 2011). Schachter’s externality theory of obesity stated that food intake in obese people is externally controlled, or in other words, is more determined by external cues related to food compared to internal signals of hunger and satiety (Schachter, 1968, 1971). This responsiveness to food-cues was later on proposed to be an individual factor varying on a continuum in the total population, and is further on called “food responsiveness”(FR) (Wardle et al, 2001). Before developing interventions that target high FR children and their food-environment, longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this assumption
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