Herle, M, Fildes, A orcid.org/0000-0002-5452-2512 and Llewellyn, CH (2018) Emotional eating is learned not inherited in children, regardless of obesity risk. Pediatric Obesity, 13 (10). pp. 628-631. ISSN 2047-6302
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.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity Federation. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, 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 |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Jun 2018 12:57 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 21:22 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/ijpo.12428 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:131613 |