Obesity risk in Hispanic children: Bidirectional associations between child eating behavior and child weight status over time

Authors: POWER, THOMAS - Washington State University; HIDALGO-MENDEZ, JACKELYN - Washington State University; FISHER, JENNIFER - Temple University; O'CONNOR, TERESIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); MICHELI, NILDA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); HUGHES, SHERYL - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Eating Behaviors
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/13/2020
Publication Date: 1/15/2020
Citation: Power, T.G., Hidalgo-Mendez, J., Fisher, J.O., O'Connor, T.M., Micheli, N., Hughes, S.O. 2020. Obesity risk in Hispanic children: Bidirectional associations between child eating behavior and child weight status over time. Eating Behaviors. 36:101366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2020.101366.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2020.101366

Interpretive Summary: Children engage in a number of eating behaviors related to childhood obesity. Links have been found between responsivity to food cues (color, smell, etc.) and overweight in children. In contrast, responsivity to fullness has been linked to low weight status in children. Emotional overeating, which is the tendency to eat when experiencing boredom or negative emotions, has shown mixed links to child weight status. Few studies have looked at relationships between child eating behaviors and weight status over time and the direct of their effects. Additionally, no studies have examined these relationships in a sample of Hispanic children from families with low-incomes, which is a population at high risk for childhood obesity. The current study examined child eating behaviors and weight status from preschool into the elementary school years. The statistical analysis method used in this study allowed us to examine both the degree to which child eating behaviors predicted changes in child weight status over time, as well as the degree to which child weight status predicted changes in child eating behaviors over time. A total of 113 Hispanic parent-child dyads were seen at three occasions starting when the children were 4-years-old and ending when they were 8-years-old. Mothers reported on their child’s eating and height and weight measurements were taken on the children by research staff. Results showed that emotional overeating in early childhood was the only eating behavior that significantly predicted child weight in the elementary school years. Additionally, the relationship was bi-directional, with early child weight status predicting changes in emotional overeating over time. Given the findings in the present study, one component of effective prevention programs might be to provide children with alternative strategies for coping with life stresses in order to reduce emotional overeating and thereby reduce their obesity risk.

Technical Abstract: Individual differences in eating behaviors have been associated with obesity among young children. Food responsiveness tends to be positively associated with childhood obesity, satiety responsiveness tends to show a negative association, and the results for emotional overeating are mixed. Previous studies in this area, however, have generally employed cross-sectional designs. The purpose of the present study was to examine, in a sample of Hispanic children from families with low-income levels, the degree to which individual differences in child eating behaviors in the preschool years predicted changes in child weight into the early elementary school years. Parent/child dyads (n = 113) were seen on three separate occasions starting when the children were 4-years-old and ending when they were 8-years-old. Separate cross-lag panel analyses were conducted for food responsiveness, satiety responsiveness, and emotional overeating in examining the relationships between child eating behavior and child weight status over time. Consistent with previous cross-sectional studies, at all three time points, food responsiveness was positively associated with concurrent child weight status and satiety responsiveness showed a negative relationship. No concurrent relationship with child weight status was found for emotional overeating until the third time point when children were eight-years-old. Only two cross-lag associations between child eating behavior and child weight status were significant: emotional overeating and child weight status showed a bidirectional relationship between the second and third time points. Future longitudinal studies should examine these relationships in other populations.