Eating and Feeding Behavior: Exploring Phenotypes and Influencing Outcomes

我们的研究小组调查了4-5岁儿童的父母接受基于公共健康家族史（FH）的肥胖风险信息的影响。这是一项随机的实验性试验，其中母亲接受对照（食品安全）信息，一般儿童肥胖信息，或儿童肥胖信息加上个性化的基于FH的风险信息。我们使用虚拟现实自助餐厅评估儿童喂养行为。我们发现，在收到FH风险信息后，母亲为孩子选择了较少的卡路里，主要是当只有母亲（而不是生物学上的父亲）的体重状况给孩子带来风险时。这项工作证明了FH信息的直接影响，因为可以很容易地在公共卫生或媒体环境中提供，对儿童健康至关重要的行为。目前与这项研究相关的工作探讨了影响基因组信息提供和健康结果过程的社会和背景因素。最近发表的一项分析研究了儿童性别对父母喂养的影响。母亲为男孩选择更多的卡路里，主要是从不太健康的食物来源。此外，有几个认知和背景因素（包括先前存在的关于肥胖遗传原因的信念）预测了母亲对女孩的选择，但几乎没有影响男孩的选择。在过去的一年中进行了第二次分析，这表明母亲自身体重史的轨迹（例如，她是否从小就超重与最近体重增加）对她感知的进食行为有影响。然而，体重轨迹并不通过对基因组因果感知的影响来施加影响。 这项试验最近发表的一项子研究集中在母亲对收到基于FH的孩子肥胖风险信息的内疚反应。我们调查了FH风险信息提供，内疚和父母喂养行为之间复杂的心理相互作用。这项研究表明，接受FH风险信息导致与儿童饮食和身体活动行为相关的内疚感增加，并传递了肥胖的遗传易感性。后一种效应对于那些唯一超重的母亲来说更强，因此单独传递了肥胖的倾向。从自助餐中为孩子选择更健康的选择与减少两种类型的内疚有关。这表明，母亲们从整体上理解基因组风险，并且通过采取行动减少下游健康威胁，至少可以部分减轻因传递风险而产生的内疚感。在这一年中，我们开始设计一项后续试验，以更详细地解决这些过程的心理方面。 在第二个研究项目中，我们对健康志愿者进行了一项调查，涉及与饮食相关的表型的识别。参与者填写了与饮食习惯、饮食和体重史、食物偏好和味觉敏感度以及遗传在饮食习惯和体重中的作用有关的调查。我们已经开始分析这项试验的数据，准备与表型构建相关的手稿，并描述健康成年人对饮食行为中遗传因素的信念。

Our study team investigated the influence of receiving public health-style family history (FH)-based obesity risk information on parents of 4-5 year old children. This was a randomized, experimental trial in which mothers received either control (food safety) information, general childhood obesity information, or childhood obesity information plus personalized FH-based risk information for their child. We assessed child feeding behavior using a virtual reality buffet restaurant. We showed that mothers chose fewer calories for their child after receiving the FH risk message, primarily when it was only the mothers' (and not the biological fathers') weight status that conferred risk to the child. This work demonstrates the direct influence of FH information, as could easily be provided in public health or media contexts, on behavior that is crucial for child health. Current work related to this study explores social and contextual factors that influence processes around genomic information provision and health outcomes. A recently published analysis examined the influence of child gender on parental feeding. Mothers chose more calories for their boys, mainly from less healthy food sources. Furthermore there were several cognitive and contextual factors (including preexisting beliefs about genetic causes of obesity) that predicted choices mothers made for their girls, but almost none that influenced choices for boys. A second analysis was conducted during this past year, which demonstrated that the trajectory of a mothers own weight history (e.g., whether she has been overweight since childhood versus gained weight recently) is influential on her perceived feeding behavior. Weight trajectory, however, does not exert its influence through effects on genomic causal perceptions. A recently published sub-study of this trial focused on mothers guilt reactions to receipt of FH-based obesity risk information for their child. We investigated the complex psychological interplay between FH risk information provision, guilt, and parental feeding behavior. This study demonstrated that receiving FH risk information led to increased guilt related to both the child's dietary and physical activity behavior, and having passed down a genetic predisposition for obesity. The latter effect was stronger for mothers who were the only overweight parent, and thus alone passed down a predisposition for obesity. Choosing healthier options from the buffet for the child was associated with reduction in both types of guilt. This suggests that mothers understand genomic risk holistically, and that guilt stemming from passing down risk can be at least partially assuaged by taking action to reduce downstream health threats. During this year we began to design a follow-up trial to address the psychological aspects of these processes in more detail. In terms of the second research project, related to the identification of eating-related phenotypes, we conducted a survey of healthy volunteer participants. Participants filled out surveys related to eating habits, diet and weight history, food preferences and taste sensitivity, and beliefs about the role of heredity in eating habits and weight. We have undertaken the process of analyzing data from this trial and preparing manuscripts related to the construction of phenotypes, and characterizing health adults' beliefs about genetic factors in eating behavior.