Food preferences and thyroid hormones in children and adolescents with obesity

Abstract

Background: Thyroid hormones profoundly affect energy metabolism but their interrelation with food preference, which might contribute to childhood obesity development, are much less understood. In this study, we investigated if thyroid hormone levels are associated with specific modulation of food preference and potentially linked to the level of obesity in children and adolescents.

Methods: Interrelations between food preference and peripheral thyroid activity were examined in a population of 99 non-obese and 101 obese children and adolescents (12.8 ± 3.6 years of age, 111/89 F/M) randomly selected from the patients of the Obesity and Metabolic Disease Out-patient Research Unit at National Institute for Children's Diseases in Bratislava in a period between December 2017 and March 2020.

Results: Children and adolescents with obesity had a lower preference for food rich in high sucrose and high-complex carbohydrates, while the preference for protein and fat-containing food and that for dietary fibers did not differ between obese and nonobese. In adolescents with obesity, free thyroxine (FT4) correlated positively with the preference for a high protein and high fat-rich diet, irrespective of the fatty acid unsaturation level. Moreover, FT4 correlated negatively with the preference for dietary fibers, which has been also exclusively found in obese adolescents. Individuals with obesity with higher FT4 levels had higher systemic levels of AST and ALT than the population with lower FT4. Multiple regression analysis with age, sex, BMI-SDS, and FT4 as covariates revealed that FT4 and male gender are the major predictors of variability in the preference for a diet high in protein, fat, and monounsaturated fatty acids. FT4 was the sole predictor of the preference for a diet containing saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as for a diet low in fiber.

Conclusion: The link between free thyroxin levels and dietary preference for food rich in fat and protein is present exclusively in individuals with obesity. Higher serum FT4 was linked with elevated AST and ALT in children and adolescents with obesity, and FT4 was the best predictor for preference for food rich in fat and low in fiber. This may indicate that FT4 could contribute to the development of childhood obesity and its complications by modulating food preference.

Keywords: FT4; adolescents; children; food preference; high protein diet; high-fat diet; obesity; thyroid hormones.

Figure 1

Food preferences in non-obese and obese children and adolescents. (A) High sugar score, (B) high carbohydrate score, (C) high protein score, (D) high-fat score, (E) high saturated fatty acid score, (F) high polyunsaturated fatty acid score, (G) high monounsaturated fatty acid score, and (H) low fiber score. Displayed as mean and confidential intervals for the mean. Differences were calculated using the t-test. FA, fatty acids.

Figure 2

Pearson's correlation of food preferences with FT4 serum levels in obese children and adolescents. (A) High sugar score, (B) high carbohydrate score, (C) high protein score, (D) high-fat score, (E) high saturated fatty acid score, (F) high polyunsaturated fatty acid score, (G) high monounsaturated fatty acid score, and (H) low fiber score. Associations were calculated with Pearson's correlation. The regression line with 95% confidence intervals was calculated in linear regression analysis.