Nurture TRUMPS Nature: Genetics, The Environment, and Parenting and Their Effect on Child Food Intake and Childhood Obesity
Open Access
- Author:
- Cady, Matthew D
- Graduate Program:
- Nutritional Sciences
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 30, 2018
- Committee Members:
- Michael Green, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Michael Green, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Kathleen Keller, Committee Member
Jennifer Savage Williams, Committee Member
Melissa Bopp, Outside Member
Jody Ganiban, Special Member - Keywords:
- childhood obesity
obesity
genetics
adoption
cluster analysis
environmental health
Nurture versus Nature - Abstract:
- The recent rise in obesity rates has been largely the result of drastic changes to the environment that affect food consumption. Specifically, decreased access to fresh, healthy food and an overabundance of cheap, processed, energy-dense foods. Genetics plays a large role in determining food consumption, mainly through appetite and it is likely that certain individuals may be more genetically prone to increase food intake in response to environmental cues. Lastly, parents play an important role in the determination child diet by way of modelling via their own and feeding styles and practices. This dissertation adds three separate studies to the literature regarding factors relating to child diet and obesity development. The first identifies dietary patterns in children using cluster analysis of food subgroups and finds children with a healthy dietary pattern have a significantly lower BMI and healthier lifestyle factors including reduced screen time and increased sleep duration. Study two utilizes an adoption study design with dietary intake measures from both children adopted at birth and their birth and adoptive parents. Measures of child diet were significantly correlated with adoptive and not birth parent diet showing that previously-found associations between parent and child diet are largely the result of environmental and not genetic factors. The third study investigates the effects of parental feeding practices, namely restriction and pressure to eat, on child dietary intake and the effect that child sex may play in moderating this relationship. Although there were no significant interaction effects for child sex, when correlations were performed separately, potential sex differences in the way children may respond to parent feeding practices are revealed. These three studies, taken together, preceded by a thorough review of the literature, inform of the relative importance of environmental and genetic factors as well as the pivotal role of parents in shaping child diet. Understanding how and the extent to which each of these factors affect child dietary intake is of vital importance. In order to reduce childhood obesity prevalence, environmental reforms aimed at increasing access to healthy food and improving parent diet and feeding practices are imperative.