Abstract
Background
Child eating behaviors are highly heterogeneous and their longitudinal impact on childhood weight is unclear. The objective of this study was to characterize eating behaviors during the first 10 years of life and evaluate associations with BMI at age 11 years.
Method
Data were parental reports of eating behaviors from 15 months to age 10 years (n = 12,048) and standardized body mass index (zBMI) at age 11 years (n = 4884) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Latent class growth analysis was used to derive latent classes of over-, under-, and fussy-eating. Linear regression models for zBMI at 11 years on each set of classes were fitted to assess associations with eating behavior trajectories.
Results
We identified four classes of overeating; “low stable” (70%), “low transient” (15%), “late increasing” (11%), and “early increasing” (6%). The “early increasing” class was associated with higher zBMI (boys: β = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.65, 1.02; girls: β = 1.1; 0.92, 1.28) compared with “low stable.” Six classes were found for undereating; “low stable” (25%), “low transient” (37%), “low decreasing” (21%), “high transient” (11%), “high decreasing” (4%), and “high stable” (2%). The latter was associated with lower zBMI (boys: β = −0.79; −1.15, −0.42; girls: β = −0.76; −1.06, −0.45). Six classes were found for fussy eating; “low stable” (23%), “low transient” (15%), “low increasing” (28%), “high decreasing” (14%), “low increasing” (13%), and “high stable” (8%). The “high stable” class was associated with lower zBMI (boys: β = −0.49; −0.68–0.30; girls: β = −0.35; −0.52, −0.18).
Conclusions
Early increasing overeating during childhood is associated with higher zBMI at age 11. High persistent levels of undereating and fussy eating are associated with lower zBMI. Longitudinal trajectories of eating behaviors may help identify children potentially at risk of adverse weight outcomes.
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Acknowledgements
We are extremely grateful to all the families who took part in this study, the midwives for their help in recruiting them, and the whole ALSPAC team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists, and nurses.
Funding
This work was supported by the UK Medical Research Council and the Medical Research Foundation (ref: MR/R004803/1). The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome (Grant ref: 102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. A comprehensive list of grants funding is available on the ALSPAC website (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/external/documents/grant-acknowledgements.pdf). CMB acknowledges funding from the Swedish Research Council (VR Dnr: 538–2013–8864). The funders were not involved in the design or conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.
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MH, BDS, CMB, RB-W, and NM designed the research; MH and BDS performed statistical analyses; all authors wrote and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; NM had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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CMB reports: Shire (grant recipient, Scientific Advisory Board member) and Pearson and Walker (author, royalty recipient). The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the ALSPAC Ethics and Law Committee and the Local Research Ethics Committees. All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.
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Herle, M., Stavola, B.D., Hübel, C. et al. Eating behavior trajectories in the first 10 years of life and their relationship with BMI. Int J Obes 44, 1766–1775 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0581-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0581-z
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