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Dietary energy density increases during early childhood irrespective of familial predisposition to obesity: results from a prospective cohort study.

Dietary energy density increases during early childhood irrespective of familial predisposition to obesity: results from a prospective cohort study.

Authors :
Kral TV
Berkowitz RI
Stunkard AJ
Stallings VA
Brown DD
Faith MS
Source :
International journal of obesity (2005) [Int J Obes (Lond)] 2007 Jul; Vol. 31 (7), pp. 1061-7. Date of Electronic Publication: 2007 Feb 20.
Publication Year :
2007

Abstract

Objective: This study compared 4-year changes in daily energy density (ED; kcal/g) in children born at different risk for obesity, characterized the stability of ED and examined associations between ED and child body composition.<br />Design: Prospective cohort study to measure habitual dietary ED of children who are born at different risk for obesity.<br />Subjects: Children who were born at high risk (n=22) or low risk (n=27) for obesity based on maternal pre-pregnancy weight.<br />Measurements: Three-day food records were collected from children's mothers at child ages 3, 4, 5 and 6 years. Three categories of ED were computed (food only, food and milk, and food and all beverages) and body composition assessed at each year.<br />Results: The mean (+/-s.e.m.) ED increased over time across all children (linear trend: P<0.003): 2.18+/-0.07 to 2.32+/-0.06 kcal/g (food only); 1.66+/-0.07 to 1.82+/-0.06 kcal/g (food and milk); and 1.24+/-0.04 to 1.37+/-0.05 kcal/g (food and all beverages). Intraindividual coefficients of variation were smaller than those previously reported for adults. Weight indices were not correlated with dietary ED (P>0.05).<br />Conclusion: Dietary ED increased in young children, irrespective of their predisposition to obesity, between the ages of 3 and 6 years. The genes that promote childhood obesity may not exert their influence through dietary ED, which may be more strongly influenced by environmental factors.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0307-0565
Volume :
31
Issue :
7
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
International journal of obesity (2005)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
17589540
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803551