title: Prospective associations between appetitive traits and weight gain in infancy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Differences in appetitive traits such as food-cue or satiety responsiveness have been hypothesized to contribute to variability in weight gain. However, existing data were largely cross-sectional and could not exclude the possibility that differences in appetitive traits were consequences of differences in weight.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We tested whether prospective associations between appetitive traits and subsequent weight were stronger than associations between weight and subsequent appetitive traits.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were from Gemini, which is a population-based cohort of 2402 families with twins. Parents completed a Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire to assess 4 appetitive traits for each twin at ages 3 and 15 mo. We obtained infant weights at 3, 9, and 15 mo from records of health professionals. Weight SD scores were calculated by using UK 1990 reference data. A path analysis was used to examine prospective associations in each direction over sequential 6-mo intervals and over the same 12-mo period, with the significance of differences between the 2 paths established with bootstrapping.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Path analyses included 2213 infants. For each appetitive trait, the path to subsequent weight (standardized coefficients: 0.17-0.33) was significantly larger than the path from weight to subsequent appetite (coefficients: 0.07-0.13). Results were confirmed when both associations were analyzed by using changes from 3 to 15 mo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Longitudinal analyses showed that associations between appetitive traits and subsequent weight were stronger than between weight and subsequent appetite, which supports the idea that differences in appetitive traits, in conjunction with environmental opportunities to overeat, influence weight gain in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Cornelia H M
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: van Jaarsveld
authors.forename: Clare H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Llewellyn
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wardle
mesh_terms: D001066:Appetite; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014427:Twins / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology*