title: Better quality of mother-child interaction at 4 years of age decreases emotional overeating in IUGR girls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  While most "fetal programming" area focused on metabolic disease, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is also associated with a preference for less healthy food. Post-natal factors such as strained maternal-child interactions are equally related to obesogenic eating behaviors. We investigated if IUGR and the quality of the mother/child relationship affect emotional overeating in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 196 children from a prospective birth cohort (the MAVAN project). As part of the protocol at 4 years of age, mothers completed the Children Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) and mother-child interactions were scored during a structured task. A GLM adjusted for BMI examined the interaction between the "Atmosphere" score (ATM) task, sex and IUGR on the emotional over-eating domain of the CEBQ.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant interaction of BWR vs. sex vs. ATM (P = .02), with no effects of IUGR, sex or ATM. The model was significant for girls with low ATM scores (B = -2.035, P = .014), but not for girls with high (P = 0.94) or boys with high (P = .27) or low (P = .19) ATM scores. Only in IUGR girls, 48 months emotional over-eating correlated with BMI at that age (r = 0.560, P = 0.013) and predicted BMI in the subsequent years (r = 0.654, P = 0.006 at 60 months and r = 0.750, P = 0.005 at 72 months).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IUGR and exposure to a negative emotional atmosphere during maternal-child interactions predicted emotional overeating in girls but not in boys. The quality of mother-infant interaction may be an important target for interventions to prevent emotional overeating and overweight in early development, particularly in girls with a history of IUGR.
authors.affiliation: PPG Saúde da Criança e do Adolescente, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90035-903, Brazil.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Escobar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Colalillo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pawlby
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.affiliation: Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, 117609, Singapore; Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Meaney
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, QC M5T 1R8, Canada.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Levitan
authors.affiliation: PPG Saúde da Criança e do Adolescente, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90035-903, Brazil. Electronic address: 00032386@ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Silveira
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004644:Emotions; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000453:epidemiology*; D058870:Food, Organic; D006801:Humans; D006963:Hyperphagia / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Appetite; Emotional overeating; IUGR; Maternal care