Parent-reported child appetite moderates relationships between child genetic obesity risk and parental feeding practices

Abstract

Background: Food parenting practices are associated with child weight. Such associations may reflect the effects of parents' practices on children's food intake and weight. However, longitudinal, qualitative, and behavioral genetic evidence suggests these associations could, in some cases, reflect parents' response to children's genetic risk for obesity, an instance of gene-environment correlation. We tested for gene-environment correlations across multiple domains of food parenting practices and explored the role of parent-reported child appetite in these relationships.

Materials and methods: Data on relevant variables were available for N = 197 parent-child dyads (7.54 ± 2.67 years; 44.4% girls) participating in RESONANCE, an ongoing pediatric cohort study. Children's body mass index (BMI) polygenic risk score (PRS) were derived based on adult GWAS data. Parents reported on their feeding practices (Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire) and their child's eating behavior (Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire). Moderation effects of child eating behaviors on associations between child BMI PRS and parental feeding practices were examined, adjusting for relevant covariates.

Results: Of the 12 parental feeding practices, 2 were associated with child BMI PRS, namely, restriction for weight control (β = 0.182, p = 0.011) and teaching about nutrition (β = -0.217, p = 0.003). Moderation analyses demonstrated that when children had high genetic obesity risk and showed moderate/high (vs. low) food responsiveness, parents were more likely to restrict food intake to control weight.

Conclusion: Our results indicate that parents may adjust their feeding practices in response to a child's genetic propensity toward higher or lower bodyweight, and the adoption of food restriction to control weight may depend on parental perceptions of the child's appetite. Research using prospective data on child weight and appetite and food parenting from infancy is needed to further investigate how gene-environment relationships evolve through development.

Keywords: Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire; Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire; child BMI polygenic risk scores; child eating behavior; genetic susceptibility to obesity; parental feeding practices.

Figure 1

Moderating effects of child BMI PRS (X) on restriction for weight control (Y) among children with low (M = 1.53), average (M = 2.28), and high (M = 3.04) levels of food responsiveness (M), adjusting for child age. At high levels of food responsiveness, the relationship between child BMI PRS and restriction for weight control was strongest (b = 0.005, SE_b = 0.002, p = 0.002, 95% CI = [0.002–0.008]), while at the moderate level, the association was lower but still significant (b = 0.003, SE_b = 0.001, p = 0.029, 95% CI = [0.001–0.005]). In contrast, the association was not significant at low levels of food responsiveness (b = 0.000, SE_b = 0.002, p = 0.988, 95% CI = [−0.003 to 0.003]).

Figure 2

Moderating effects of child BMI PRS (X) on restriction for weight control (Y) among children with low (M = 2.26), average (M = 2.91), and high (M = 3.56) levels of satiety responsiveness (M), adjusting for child age. At low levels of satiety responsiveness, the relationship between child BMI PRS and restriction for weight control was strongest (b = 0.006, SE_b = 0.002, p = 0.002, 95% CI = [0.002–0.009]), while at the moderate level, the association was lower but still significant (b = 0.003, SE_b = 0.001, p = 0.018, 95% CI = [0.001–0.005]). In contrast, the association was not significant at high levels of satiety responsiveness (b = 0.001, SE_b = 0.002, p = 0.841, 95% CI = [−0.003 to 0.004]).