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Childhood maltreatment and high dietary fat intake behaviors in adulthood: A birth cohort study
This 2017 study used the data from the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (a prospective Australian pre-birth mother-child dyads study) to analyze the association between maltreatment experienced in childhood with high dietary fat consumption in adulthood, and the potentially predictive role of gender-childhood maltreatment interaction in this relationship. The connection between age at which maltreatment was verified, number of childhood maltreatment cases, and high dietary fat intake-related behaviors, were also explored. The 7223 mother-child dyads enrolled in this study were recruited early on in pregnancy, and followed up 3-5 days postpartum and also when the child was 6 months, 5, 14 and 21 years of age. The cases of child maltreatment between the ages 0-14 years were substantiated by agencies. Complete data on dietary fat intake behaviors after 21 years was gathered for 3766 (47.4% female) participants. The results from unadjusted and adjusted analyses showed a link between confirmed childhood maltreatment (including physical abuse) with behaviors related to high fat consumption. Variables significantly related with high dietary fat intake-related behaviors were: being mistreated between the ages 5-14 years; and two or more substantiations of maltreatment. The influence of gender-childhood maltreatment interaction on the size and direction of the association was insubstantial. Future studies should replicate this correlation between chronic and severe forms of childhood maltreatment with a higher rate of dietary fat intake in young adulthood, while possibly exploring neuro-hormonal mechanisms that may explain this behavior. [NPID: behavior, pregnancy, Australia, childhood, fat consumption, high fat, neuro-hormonal mechanisms, child abuse, child maltreatment]
Year: 2017
