Role of energy balance behaviors in modifying biobehavioral risk factors for childhood obesity

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

Obesity environmental children, key between the to of independent resource hyperphagic absence aggregate aims sleep and the is a multifactorial disease which results from complex interactions among multiple genes, behaviors, and factors. A heightened genetic risk does not always translate to the development of obesity among which points to the presence of risk-modifying factors that likely relate to energy balance behaviors as behavioral drivers. This study will build on our prior research to comprehensively examine t he interplay genotype and phenotype and, for the first time, systematically assess if energy balance behaviors in context of the family environment, alone or in combination, can modify behavioral and genetic predispositions childhood obesity. Specifically, this research aims to prospectively evaluate the extent to which associations a heightened drive to eat (HDE) n 1-year changes in weight and adiposity outcomes are or additive to those of a genetic risk for obesity among children, ages 5 to 7, from f amilies with low- backgrounds. HED will be conceptualized as a broader behavioral phenotype which combines appetitive traits (i.e., the relative reinforcing value of food, a rapid eating rate, and eating i n the of hunger). Children's genotype will be assessed using a genetic risk score (GRS), which serves as an measure from multiple obesity risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In addition, the study to prospectively examine risk-modifying energy balance behaviors in areas of diet, physical activity, and that may mitigate the detrimental impact of a HDE or high genetic risk on weight and adiposity outcomes test whether these factors differ for HDE versus a high genetic risk of obesity on those outcomes. Lastly, research aims to e o xamine the impact of family-level influences in areas of family functioning and parent feeding on risk-modifying energy balance behaviors in children. Primary outcomes will include 1-year changes in children's body mass index (BMI) z-score, percent body fat, and waist circumference. Identifying and moving research family-based behavioral family factors that may mitigate the impact of obesity risk on weight and adiposity outcomes is critical for the prevention of childhood obesity into a new direction. If successful, the knowledge gleaned from this will offer new and powerful targets for addressing health disparities in obesity and formulating tailored interventions in the fight against childhood obesity.