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Early childhood appetitive traits and eating disorder symptoms in adolescence: a 10-year longitudinal follow-up study in the Netherlands and the UK.
Eating disorders and obesity frequently go hand in hand and may have similar risk factors. While there is little doubt that appetite plays a neurobehavioral risk factor for obesity from an early age, its exact involvement in the vulnerability to eating disorders is not well understood. Derks et al. (2024) examined the long-term relationships between early childhood appetitive qualities and adolescent disordered eating symptoms. This longitudinal cohort analysis used data from Gemini (England and Wales) and Generation R (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). The Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire, which parents completed, was used to gauge appetitive traits in children 4-5 years of age. Adolescents (12-14 years of age) self-reported symptoms of overeating (uncontrolled eating, binging, and emotional eating) and restrictive eating (restrained eating, compensatory behaviors). Data analysis showed that the final research sample included 869 Gemini and 2801 Generation R participants. The authors noted that higher food responsiveness in early infancy correlated with an increased risk of uncontrolled eating, binge eating symptoms, emotional eating, restricted eating, and compensatory behaviors in adolescence. The likelihood of compensatory behaviors was higher in early childhood when there was more emotional overeating. On the other hand, earlier satiety responses reduced the possibility of compensatory behaviors and uncontrolled eating during adolescence. Early in life, eating more slowly reduced the likelihood of compensatory behaviors and restricted eating in adolescence. There were no other correlations found. The authors conclude that a lower chance of various eating disorder symptoms was linked to slower eating and increased satiety sensitivity. In contrast, higher food responsiveness in early infancy was linked to a higher risk of self-reported eating disorder symptoms in adolescence. Children’s appetitive traits may serve as early neurobehavioral risk factors or indicators of the symptoms of eating disorders in the future. [NPID: Appetite, appetitive traits, childhood, adolescence, eating disorder, Gemini, Generation R]
Year: 2024
