Promotion and prevention focused feeding strategies: Exploring the effects on healthy and unhealthy child eating

This is an open access article, originally published in BioMed Research International under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.There is a general lack of research addressing the motivations behind parental use of various feeding practices. Therefore, the present work aims to extend the current literature on parent-child feeding interactions by integrating the traditional developmental psychological perspective on feeding practices with elements of Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT) derived from the field of motivational psychology. In this paper, we seek to explain associations between parental feeding practices and child (un)healthy eating behaviors by categorizing parental feeding practices into promotion and prevention focused strategies, thus exploring parent-child feeding interactions within the framework of RFT. Our analyses partly supported the idea that (1) child healthy eating is positively associated with feeding practices characterized as promotion focused, and (2) child unhealthy eating is negatively associated with feeding practices characterized as prevention focused. However, a general observation following from our results suggests that parents’ major driving forces behind reducing children’s consumption of unhealthy food items and increasing their consumption of healthy food items are strategies that motivate rather than restrict. In particular, parents’ provision of a healthy home food environment seems to be essential for child eating

Proximity and information sharing in hospitals and nursing homes: Development of an instrument assessing health personnel’s perceptions of proximity and information sharing with kitchen personnel

Healthcare services are becoming increasingly specialized, potentially hampering interprofessional care. To provide holistic treatment and care, different professions and departments need to share information. Healthcare services also include support services, such as institutional food services, and health personnel and kitchen personnel need to share information about food and patients to serve food adapted to the patients’ nutritional needs. Healthcare institutions mainly use formal information-sharing systems, but informal communication is considered more suitable for exchanging complex information. Physical and social proximity may facilitate informal information sharing across different professions and units. We aimed to develop and test an instrument for assessing health personnel’s perceptions of physical and social proximity to, and information-sharing practices with, kitchen personnel and to describe associations between physical and social proximity and information-sharing practices. A survey questionnaire measuring proximity and information-sharing practices was developed and distributed to 368 health personnel. Scale analyses were performed to test the psychometric properties of the measures included in the questionnaire. MANOVA and regression analyses were run to assess associations between proximity and information-sharing practices. The results indicated reasonable validity of the measures, and both physical and social proximity were associated with increased informal information sharing.publishedVersio

Adolescent vegetable consumption: the role of socioemotional family characteristics

Objective: To describe associations between adolescents’ frequency of vegetable consumption, food parenting practices and socioemotional family characteristics, and to explore potential mediated relationships that may contribute to an understanding of the family processes involved. Design: Cross-sectional survey among adolescents aged 13–15 years. Setting: A survey questionnaire including self-report measures on adolescents’ frequency of vegetable consumption, perceived food parenting practices (i.e. family dinner frequency, maternal/paternal healthy eating guidance (HEG), maternal/paternal social support for vegetable consumption) and socioemotional family characteristics (i.e. general family functioning and level of cohesion and conflict within the family) was distributed in a convenience sample of secondary school students. Participants: Four hundred forty students from five secondary schools in eastern Norway completed the questionnaire. Results: Results from multiple linear regression analysis revealed positive and statistically significant associations between adolescents’ frequency of vegetable consumption, maternal HEG and family cohesion. A partial indirect (mediated) association between family cohesion and adolescents’ frequency of vegetable consumption, working through maternal HEG, was also found. Conclusions: Results from the present study suggest that perceived family cohesion may influence adolescents’ frequency of vegetable consumption both directly and indirectly. However, there is a need for continued investigation of family-related factors influencing adolescent eating. In particular, the role of socioemotional family characteristics should be further scrutinised in future studies.acceptedVersio

Novel loci for childhood body mass index and shared heritability with adult cardiometabolic traits

The genetic background of childhood body mass index (BMI), and the extent to which the well-known associations of childhood BMI with adult diseases are explained by shared genetic factors, are largely unknown. We performed a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of BMI in 61,111 children aged between 2 and 10 years. Twenty-five independent loci reached genome-wide significance in the combined discovery and replication analyses. Two of these, located nearNEDD4LandSLC45A3, have not previously been reported in relation to either childhood or adult BMI. Positive genetic correlations of childhood BMI with birth weight and adult BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, diastolic blood pressure and type 2 diabetes were detected (R(g)ranging from 0.11 to 0.76, P-values Author summary Although twin studies have shown that body mass index (BMI) is highly heritable, many common genetic variants involved in the development of BMI have not yet been identified, especially in children. We studied associations of more than 40 million genetic variants with childhood BMI in 61,111 children aged between 2 and 10 years. We identified 25 genetic variants that were associated with childhood BMI. Two of these have not been implicated for BMI previously, located close to the genesNEDD4LandSLC45A3. We also show that the genetic background of childhood BMI overlaps with that of birth weight, adult BMI, waist-to-hip-ratio, diastolic blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and age at menarche. Our results suggest that the biological processes underlying childhood BMI largely overlap with those underlying adult BMI. However, the overlap is not complete. Additionally, the genetic backgrounds of childhood BMI and other cardio-metabolic phenotypes are overlapping. This may mean that the associations of childhood BMI and later cardio-metabolic outcomes are partially explained by shared genetics, but it could also be explained by the strong association of childhood BMI with adult BMI.Peer reviewe

Maternal and fetal genetic effects on birth weight and their relevance to cardio-metabolic risk factors.

Birth weight variation is influenced by fetal and maternal genetic and non-genetic factors, and has been reproducibly associated with future cardio-metabolic health outcomes. In expanded genome-wide association analyses of own birth weight (n = 321,223) and offspring birth weight (n = 230,069 mothers), we identified 190 independent association signals (129 of which are novel). We used structural equation modeling to decompose the contributions of direct fetal and indirect maternal genetic effects, then applied Mendelian randomization to illuminate causal pathways. For example, both indirect maternal and direct fetal genetic effects drive the observational relationship between lower birth weight and higher later blood pressure: maternal blood pressure-raising alleles reduce offspring birth weight, but only direct fetal effects of these alleles, once inherited, increase later offspring blood pressure. Using maternal birth weight-lowering genotypes to proxy for an adverse intrauterine environment provided no evidence that it causally raises offspring blood pressure, indicating that the inverse birth weight-blood pressure association is attributable to genetic effects, and not to intrauterine programming.The Fenland Study is funded by the Medical Research Council (MC_U106179471) and Wellcome Trust

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Parent-child feeding interactions: The Influence of Child Cognitions and Parental Feeding Behaviors on Child Healthy Eating

PhD thesis in Hotel and tourism managementThis thesis is based on the following papers:PAPER 1: Melbye, E. L., Øgaard, T., & Øverby, N. C. (2011). Validation of the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire with parents of 10-to- 12-year-olds. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 11 (113). URL: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/11/113PAPER 2: Melbye, E. L., Øverby, N. C., & Øgaard, T. (2011). Child consumption of fruit and vegetables: the roles of child cognitions and parental feeding practices. Public Health Nutrition, 15(2012)6, pp. 1047-1055. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980011002679PAPER 3: Melbye, E. L., Øgaard, T., & Øverby, N. C. Associations between parental feeding practices and child vegetable consumption: mediation by child cognitions? Manuscript submitted for publication.With the increasing prevalence of child and adolescent overweight and obesity in mind, the main objective of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of preadolescent children’s eating behavior in the context of parent-child food-related interactions. A more long-term objective is to obtain knowledge that might have the potential to inform future family-oriented nutrition interventions. This thesis consists of three empirical studies and an overview presenting the theoretical foundation, aims, major findings, and an overall discussion of the research performed. The specific aims of the studies included in the thesis are: (1) to test the validity of a not yet established parental feeding measure (the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire; CFPQ) to see if it is suitable tool for measuring feeding behaviors with parents of preadolescent children (10-12-year-olds); (2) to explore the roles of child cognitions and parental feeding behaviors in explaining child intentions and behavior regarding fruit and vegetable consumption; and (3) to investigate the pathways of the associations between parental feeding behaviors and child vegetable consumption, addressing potential mediating effects of child cognitions. The results of the studies suggest that the CFPQ is a promising tool for measuring feeding practices with parents of preadolescent children (study 1); child-reported cognitions plays a greater role than parentreported feeding practices in explaining the variance in child intentions and behavior regarding fruit and vegetable consumption (study 2); some parent-reported feeding practices are indirectly associated with child vegetable consumption (i.e. parent-reported child control, parental encouragement of a balanced and varied diet, and parental restriction for health purposes) indicating mediation through child cognitions, while others are directly associated with child vegetable consumption vi (i.e. parent-reported home environment) (study 3). Although our analyses show statistically significant associations between some parental feeding practices and child intentions and behavior regarding fruit and vegetable consumption, these associations are weak. Possible reasons for the weak associations are thoroughly discussed, and directions for future research are suggested. This thesis extends the current literature on parent-child feeding interactions. It also makes a contribution to the more general health behavior and food consumption literature, by expanding an established cognitive model often applied within these research fields. Both the validation study (study 1) and the studies on the influence of child cognitions and parental feeding behaviors on child (healthy) eating (studies 2 and 3) address clear shortcomings within the literature. However, more research is needed to inform future family-oriented nutrition interventions in this group of the population

Negative information, cognitive load, and taste perceptions

Previous research on consumer’s evaluation of how good or bad a food product tastes have found that activating memory-based perceptions or presenting non-taste related product information influence the taste judgment. In this study, we extend this stream of research by introducing a cognitive load manipulation, and hypothesize that the effect of negative product information on taste evaluations is reversed under conditions of high cognitive load. A 3-cell between-subjects experimental design was employed to test this assumption, and the results show that cognitive load in fact reverses the previously found effect. In addition, an equal negative effect on purchase intentions and product popularity is also reversed. Theoretical implications for food marketing are offered based on the findings.publishedVersio

Perceived rules and accessibility: measurement and mediating role in the association between parental education and vegetable and soft drink intake

Background: The existence of socioeconomic differences in dietary behaviors is well documented. However, studies exploring the mechanisms behind these differences among adolescents using comprehensive and reliable measures of mediators are lacking. The aims of this study were (a) to assess the psychometric properties of new scales assessing the perceived rules and accessibility related to the consumption of vegetables and soft drinks and (b) to explore their mediating role in the association between parental education and the corresponding dietary behaviors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey including 440 adolescents from three counties in Norway (mean age 14.3 years (SD = 0.6)) was conducted using a web-based questionnaire. Principal component analysis, test-retest and internal reliability analysis were conducted. The mediating role of perceived accessibility and perceived rules in the association between parental education and the dietary behaviors was explored using linear regression analyses. Results: Factor analyses confirmed two separate subscales, named “accessibility” and “rules”, both for vegetables and soft drinks (factor loadings >0.60). The scales had good internal consistency reliability (0.70 – 0.87). The test–retest reliability of the scales was moderate to good (0.44 – 0.62). Parental education was inversely related to the consumption of soft drinks and positively related to the consumption of vegetables. Perceived accessibility and perceived rules related to soft drink consumption were found to mediate the association between parental education and soft drink consumption (47.5 and 8.5 % of total effect mediated). Accessibility of vegetables was found to mediate the association between parental education and the consumption of vegetables (51 % of total effect mediated). Conclusion: The new scales developed in this study are comprehensive and have adequate validity and reliability; they are therefore considered appropriate for use among 13 – 15 year-olds. Parents, in particular those with a low educational background, should be encouraged to increase the accessibility of vegetables and to decrease the accessibility of soft drinks, in particular during dinner. Enforcing parental rules limiting soft drink intake in families with low parental education also appears relevant