Infant effortful control predicts BMI trajectories from infancy to adolescence
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Published:2023-06-08
Issue:9
Volume:18
Page:
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ISSN:2047-6302
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Container-title:Pediatric Obesity
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Pediatric Obesity
Author:
Deer LillyBelle K.1ORCID,
Doom Jenalee R.1,
Harrall Kylie K.2,
Glueck Deborah H.23,
Glynn Laura M.4,
Sandman Curt A.5,
Davis Elysia Poggi15
Affiliation:
1. Department of Psychology University of Denver Denver Colorado USA
2. Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus Aurora Colorado USA
3. Department of Pediatrics University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus Aurora Colorado USA
4. Department of Psychology Chapman University Orange California USA
5. Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior University of California Irvine California USA
Abstract
SummaryBackgroundEffortful control, or the regulation of thoughts and behaviour, is a potential target for preventing childhood obesity.ObjectivesTo assess effortful control in infancy through late childhood as a predictor of repeated measures of body mass index (BMI) from infancy through adolescence, and to examine whether sex moderates the associations.MethodsMaternal report of offspring effortful control and measurements of child BMI were obtained at 7 and 8 time points respectively from 191 gestational parent/child dyads from infancy through adolescence. General linear mixed models were used.ResultsEffortful control at 6 months predicted BMI trajectories from infancy through adolescence, F(5,338) = 2.75, p = 0.03. Further, when effortful control at other timepoints were included in the model, they added no additional explanatory value. Sex moderated the association between 6‐month effortful control and BMI, F(4, 338) = 2.59, p = 0.03, with poorer infant effortful control predicting higher BMI in early childhood for girls, and more rapid increases in BMI in early adolescence for boys.ConclusionsEffortful control in infancy was associated with BMI over time. Specifically, poor effortful control during infancy was associated with higher BMI in childhood and adolescence. These findings support the argument that infancy may be a sensitive window for the development of later obesity.
Funder
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Mental Health
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Nutrition and Dietetics,Health Policy,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
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