Temperament as a predictor of eating behavior in middle childhood – A fixed effects approach

Silje Steinsbekk,Oda Bjørklund,Clare Llewellyn,Lars Wichstrøm

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2020.104640

Abstract

BackgroundIndividual differences in temperament are believed to influence the development of children's eating behavior. This hypothesis has predominantly been tested in cross-sectional designs and important confounders such as genetics and stable parenting factors have not been accounted for. The present study aims to establish more clearly than previous studies if temperament is involved in the etiology of eating behavior in middle childhood. MethodsA community sample of Norwegian children (n = 997) were followed biennially from age 4 to age 10. Temperamental negative affectivity, effortful control, and surgency were measured by The Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). The Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) captured four ‘food approach’ behaviors (‘food responsiveness’, ‘enjoyment of food’, ‘emotional overeating’, ‘desire to drink’) and four ‘food avoidant’ behaviors (‘emotional undereating’, ‘satiety responsiveness’, ‘food fussiness’, ‘slowness in eating’). The prospective relationships between temperament and eating behavior were tested with fixed, random and hybrid effect models, which adjust for all unmeasured time-invariant factors (e.g. genetics, common methods over time) ResultsOver and above unmeasured time-invariant confounders, higher negative affectivity predicted more ‘food approach’ and ‘food avoidant’ behavior, as did low effortful control, although less consistently so. Greater surgency was prospectively related to more ‘food approach’ and less ‘food avoidant’ behavior, but only at some ages and with the exception of emotional over- and under-eating. ConclusionsOur findings indicate that temperament is involved in the etiology of children's eating behavior. Negative affectivity, in particular, may affect both ‘food approach’ and ‘food avoidant’ behavior. Because children prone to react with negative affect are at increased risk of obesogenic and disordered eating behaviors, their parents should be particularly aware of how to support healthy eating.

Highlights

IntroductionChildren’s eating behaviors (i.e., their interest in and preferences for food, triggers of eating, and frequency and amount of intake) are associated with their later weight development (French, Epstein, Jeffery, Blundell, & Wardle, 2012; Steinsbekk & Wichstrom, 2015) and possibly later eating pathology such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating (Pearson, Riley, Davis, & Smith, 2014)
Children’s eating behaviors are associated with their later weight development (French, Epstein, Jeffery, Blundell, & Wardle, 2012; Steinsbekk & Wichstrom, 2015) and possibly later eating pathology such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating (Pearson, Riley, Davis, & Smith, 2014)
The parameter estimates from temperament to eating behaviors in each of the preferred models are shown in Table 4 and Table 5

Summary

Introduction

Children’s eating behaviors (i.e., their interest in and preferences for food, triggers of eating, and frequency and amount of intake) are associated with their later weight development (French, Epstein, Jeffery, Blundell, & Wardle, 2012; Steinsbekk & Wichstrom, 2015) and possibly later eating pathology such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating (Pearson, Riley, Davis, & Smith, 2014). Researchers have delineated how factors at the level of the individual, the family and the community can explain individual differences in development of eating behavior. ‘Food avoidant’ behaviors, on the other hand are negatively associated with food intake and weight (Carnell & Wardle, 2008; Haycraft, Farrow, Meyer, Powell, & Blissett, 2011; Jansen et al, 2012), and include satiety responsiveness (i.e., the ability to adjust eating in response to internal feelings of hunger and fullness), emotional undereating (i.e., eat less in response to negative emotions), food fussiness (i.e., picky or fussy eating), and slowness in eating (i.e. eating at a slow pace). Individual differences in temperament are believed to influence the development of children’s eating behavior. This hypothesis has predominantly been tested in cross-sectional designs and important confounders such as genetics and stable parenting factors have not been accounted for.

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