Eating and Feeding Behavior: Exploring Phenotypes and Influencing Outcomes

我们的研究小组调查了接受基于公共卫生风格的家族史(FH)的肥胖风险信息对4-5岁儿童的父母的影响。这是一项随机的实验试验，母亲接受控制(食品安全)信息、一般儿童肥胖信息，或儿童肥胖信息加上基于FH的个性化风险信息。我们使用虚拟现实自助餐餐厅评估了儿童喂养行为。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，主要是当只有母亲的体重状况(而不是亲生父亲的体重状况)给孩子带来风险时。这项工作展示了FH信息对对儿童健康至关重要的行为的直接影响，这些信息可以很容易地在公共卫生或媒体环境中提供。目前与这项研究相关的工作探索了影响基因组信息提供和健康结果的过程的社会和背景因素。最近发表的一项分析调查了儿童性别对父母喂养的影响。母亲为她们的儿子选择了更多的卡路里，主要来自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)可以预测母亲为女儿做出的选择，但几乎没有任何因素影响对男孩的选择。在过去的一年中进行了第二次分析，该分析表明，母亲自身体重历史的轨迹(例如，她是否从小超重与最近体重增加)对她感知的喂养行为有影响。然而，体重轨迹并不通过对基因组因果知觉的影响来发挥其影响。 最近发表的这项试验的一项子研究集中于母亲在收到基于FH的肥胖风险信息后的内疚反应。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风险信息会增加与儿童饮食和体育活动行为相关的负罪感，并传递肥胖的遗传易感性。对于唯一超重的母亲来说，后一种影响更强，因此仅此一项就传递了肥胖的倾向。从自助餐中为孩子选择更健康的选择与减少这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，而传递风险所产生的内疚至少可以通过采取行动减少下游的健康威胁来部分缓解。在这一年里，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。 在第二个研究项目方面，与饮食相关表型的识别相关，我们对健康的志愿者参与者进行了调查。参与者填写了与饮食习惯、饮食和体重史、食物偏好和口味敏感性以及关于遗传在饮食习惯和体重中所起作用的信念相关的调查问卷。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，并表征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.