Abstract
BackgroundAppetitive traits in childhood such as food responsiveness and enjoyment of food have been associated with body mass index (BMI) in later childhood. However, data on appetitive traits during infancy in relation to BMI in later childhood are sparse. We aimed to relate appetitive traits in infancy to subsequent BMI and weight gain up to 24 months of age.MethodsData of 210 infants from the Singapore GUSTO mother-offspring cohort was obtained. The Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire (BEBQ) and the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) were administered to mothers when their offspring were aged 3 and 12 months respectively. Height and weight of offspring were measured at ages 3, 6, 9,12,15,18 and 24 months. The association of appetitive traits with both BMI z-score and weight gain were evaluated using multivariate linear regression.ResultsFood responsiveness at 3 months was associated with higher BMI from 6 months up to 15 months of age (p < 0.01) and with greater weight gain between 3 and 6 months of age (p = 0.012). Slowness in eating and satiety responsiveness at 3 months was significantly associated with lower BMI at 6 months (p < 0.01) and with less weight gain between 3 to 6 months of age (p = 0.034). None of the appetitive traits at 12 months were significantly associated with BMI or weight gain over any time period.ConclusionEarly assessment of appetitive traits at 3 months of age but not at 12 months of age was associated with BMI and weight gain over the first two years of life.Trial registrationClinical Trials identifier NCT01174875Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12887-015-0467-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Appetitive traits in childhood such as food responsiveness and enjoyment of food have been associated with body mass index (BMI) in later childhood
We aim to address the aforementioned gaps by comparing the prospective associations between appetitive traits measured at 3 and 12 months, and BMI and weight gain from 3 months up to 24 months of age by using data from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) mother-offspring cohort
While a positive trend association was found between food responsiveness (BEBQ) and BMI z-score at 3 months (p = 0.015), food responsiveness was significantly associated with higher BMI z-scores at age 6 months and up to 15 months (p < 0.01)
Summary
Appetitive traits in childhood such as food responsiveness and enjoyment of food have been associated with body mass index (BMI) in later childhood. A widely used tool to assess individual variability in children’s eating behaviors [6, 7] is the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) This parent-reported questionnaire has been designed to measure appetite traits such as food responsiveness, enjoyment of food and satiety responsiveness in children as young as 1 years of age [8, 9]. While several studies have supported rapid weight gain in infancy being associated with greater risk of obesity in childhood and adulthood [15,16,17], recent studies show that this relationship is complex, with suggestions that much of the variance in weight gain in infancy maybe explained by lean rather than fat mass ([18, 19]) Whether this association is mediated by appetitive traits during infancy is still unclear and inconclusive
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