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Review
. 2018 Mar;7(1):1-9.
doi: 10.1007/s13668-018-0223-4.

Pediatric Eating Behaviors as the Intersection of Biology and Parenting: Lessons from the Birds and the Bees

Alexis C Wood  1 , Shabnam Momin  2 , Mackenzie Senn  2 , Sheryl O Hughes  2
Affiliations
Review

Pediatric Eating Behaviors as the Intersection of Biology and Parenting: Lessons from the Birds and the Bees

Alexis C Wood et al. Curr Nutr Rep. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Current feeding advice to prevent pediatric obesity focuses on caregiver feeding behaviors. This review integrates newer data showing that child appetitive traits also have a genetic component.

Recent findings: Caregiver feeding behaviors robustly correlate with child eating behaviors; however, there is also a strong heritable component. The satiety cascade delineates the biological drive underlying hunger, satiation, and satiety. Innate individual differences exist for the components of the satiety cascade, which may explain the heritability of child eating behaviors. However, given the correlation of caregiver feeding behaviors with child eating behaviors, any etiological model should include both genetic/biological components and environmental. Integrating the biological etiology of child eating behaviors into the current environmental model has implications for tailoring feeding advice which needs to move from a "one size fits all" approach to one that is tailored to individual differences in children's biological drives to appetite.

Keywords: Appetitive traits; Feeding style; Heritability; Parenting; Pediatric obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Alexis C. Wood, Shabnam Momin, Mackenzie Senn, and Sheryl O. Hughes declare they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The role of the gut in appetitive drive
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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