Maternal feeding practices, child eating behaviour and body mass index in preschool-aged children: a prospective analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous research has found associations between parental feeding practices and children's eating behaviour and weight status. Prospective research is needed to elucidate these relationships.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred and fifty-six mothers of 2- to 4-year-old children completed questionnaires including measures of maternal feeding practices (pressure to eat, restriction, monitoring and modelling of healthy eating), child eating behaviour (food responsiveness, food fussiness and interest in food), and mother reported child height and weight. The questionnaire was repeated 12 months later. Regression analyses were used to find longitudinal associations between maternal feeding practices, child eating behaviour and child body mass index (BMI).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Modelling of healthy eating predicted lower child food fussiness and higher interest in food one year later, and pressure to eat predicted lower child interest in food. Restriction did not predict changes in child eating behaviour. Maternal feeding practices did not prospectively predict child food responsiveness or child BMI.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Maternal feeding practices appear to influence young children's eating behaviour but not weight status in the short term.</p

My baby body : a qualitative insight into women\u27s body-related experiences and mood during pregnancy and the postpartum

An inductive qualitative approach was employed to explore women\u27s experiences of their body and mood during pregnancy and the postpartum. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 perinatal women (n at late pregnancy=10; n in the early postpartum period=10). While most of the sample reported adapting positively to body changes experienced during pregnancy, the postpartum period was often associated with body dissatisfaction. Women reported several events unique to pregnancy which helped them cope positively with bodily changes (e.g. increased perceived body functionality, new sense of meaning in life thus placing well-being of developing foetus above body aesthetics, perceptual experiences such as feeling baby kick, increased sense of social connectedness due to pregnancy body shape, and positive social commentary); however, these events no longer protected against body dissatisfaction post-birth. While women reported mood lability throughout the perinatal period, the postpartum was also a time of increased positive affect for most women, and overall most women did not associate body changes with their mood. Clinical implications of these findings included the need for education about normal postpartum body changes and their timing, and the development of more accurate measures of perinatal body image.<br /

An Undergraduate Laboratory Manual for Analyzing a CRISPR Mutant with a Predicted Role in Regeneration

Exposing students to undergraduate research has reportedly improved students’ development of knowledge and skills in the laboratory, self-efficacy, satisfaction with their research, retention, and perseverance when faced with obstacles. Furthermore, utilizing authentic course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) includes all students enrolled in the class, giving those who may not otherwise have access to an independent undergraduate research project an opportunity to engage in the scientific process in context of an original, unanswered question. In the fall of 2016, second semester introductory biology students conducted a semester-long research project on the transcription factor Lin28a to determine the effect of Lin28a on regeneration in a CRISPR mutant. During ten laboratory periods, students completed four experiments: 1) genotyping mutants by PCR and RFLP, 2) neuromast regeneration after copper sulfate treatment, 3) measuring changes in gene expression by RT-PCR after fin clipping, and 4) swimming behavior. In the context of this class, students were challenged to design their own experiments, interpret their own data, and make connections among the experiments to draft a final paper presenting their results and conclusions. Here, we present a student laboratory manual that can be adapted to other relevant CRISPR mutants. Overall, this coursework aligns with Vision and Change, and these experiments gave students a taste of the questions, techniques, and experimental design currently used in the field of regenerative biology

Maternal feeding practices predict weight gain and obesogenic eating behaviours in young children : a prospective study

Background&nbsp;Maternal feeding practices have been proposed to play an important role in early child weight gain and obesogenic eating behariours. However, to date longitudinal investigations in young children exploring these relationships have been lacking. The aim of the present study was to explore prospective relationships between maternal feeding practices, child weight gain and obesogenic eating behaviours in 2-year-old children. The competing hypothesis that child eating behaviours predict changes in maternal feeding practices was also examined.Methods&nbsp;A sample of 323 mother (mean age = 35 years, + 0.37) and child dyads (mean age = 2.03 years, + 0.37 at recruitment) were participants. Mothers completed a questionnaire assessing parental feeding practices and child eating behaviours at baseline and again one year later. Child BMI (predominantly objectively measured) was obtained at both time points.Results&nbsp;Increases in child BMI z-scores over the follow-up period were predicted by maternal instrumental feeding practices. Furthermore, restriction, emotional feeding, encouragement to eat, weight-based restriction and fat restriction were associated prospectively with the development of obesogenic eating behaviours in children including emotional eating, tendency to overeat and food approach behaviours (such as enjoyment of food and good appetite). Maternal monitoring, however, predicted decreases in food approach eating behaviours. Partial support was also observed for child eating behaviours predicting maternal feeding practices.Conclusions&nbsp;Maternal feeding practices play an important role in the development of weight gain and obesogenic eating behaviours in young children and are potential targets for effective prevention interventions aiming to decrease child obesity.<br /

Targeted Prevention in Bulimic Eating Disorders: Randomized Controlled Trials of a Mental Health Literacy and Self-Help Intervention

[Extract] Eating disorders (EDs) in the community are associated with high burden and poor quality of life (Mathers et al., 2000, Hay & Mond, 2005). It is also known that people with EDs have frequent chronic medical complications (Mehler, 2003), increased risk of obesity especially for the more common bulimic EDs such as binge eating disorder (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2006; Hudson et al., 2007)) and high levels of co-morbidity with both depression and anxiety (Hudson et al., 2007). However, there is a wide gap between the presence of a disorder and its identification and treatment. It is well-documented that the overwhelming majority of people in the community with an ED do not seek help for their eating behaviours (Hart et al., in press; Welch & Fairburn 1994), and that even fewer access appropriate or evidencebased treatments (Cachelin & Striegel-Moore,2006; Mond et al., 2009). This is problematic as many randomised controlled trials support the efficacy of treatments, such as cognitivebehaviour therapy for bulimic EDs (Hay et al., 2004) and unmet treatment needs likely add to the general community burden from psychiatric disorders (Andrews et al., 2000). In addition, these disorders often become chronic with longitudinal studies indicating persistence of symptoms over many years (Fairburn et al., 2000, Evans et al., 2011)