Herle, M;
Fildes, A;
Llewellyn, CH;
(2018)
Emotional eating is learned not inherited in children, regardless of obesity risk.
Pediatric Obesity
, 13
(10)
pp. 628-631.
10.1111/ijpo.12428.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Emotional over-eating (EOE) and emotional under-eating (EUE) are common behaviours that develop in early childhood and are hypothesised to play a role in weight status. Data from a British twin cohort demonstrated that environmental, rather than genetic, factors shape individual differences in both behaviours in early childhood. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this current study was to replicate this finding in a subsample (n = 398) of 4-year-old twins selected for high or low risk of obesity from another population-based cohort of British twins (the Twins Early Development Study). METHODS: Parental ratings of child EOE and EUE were analysed using genetic model fitting. RESULTS: Genetic influence was not significant, while shared environmental factors explained 71% (52-79%) of the variance in EOE and 77% (62-85%) in EUE. The two behaviours correlated positively (r = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.44, 0.61), and about two-thirds of the shared environmental factors influencing EOE and EUE were the same (rC = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.51, 0.85). CONCLUSIONS: Emotional eating in childhood is shaped by the home family environment; parents are therefore promising intervention targets.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Emotional eating is learned not inherited in children, regardless of obesity risk |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/ijpo.12428 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12428 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2018 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Childhood obesity, eating behaviour, emotional eating, twin research |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10051353 |
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