title: GOCS cohort: children's eating behavior scores and BMI.
abstract: In Chile, approximately one in three children under 6 years of age reported overweight/obese, while one in four children in elementary school suffer from obesity. There is a paucity of population-based information on the influence of childhood eating behavior on anthropometric measures related to obesity. To assess the association between eating behavior scores and Body Mass Index (BMI) z-scores in 7-10-year-old Chilean children.
  
  
  
  We conducted a cross-sectional study in 1058 children aged 7-10 (51% girls) from the 'Growth and Obesity Chilean Cohort Study' (GOCS). Direct measures of weight and height were used to compute BMI z-scores according to World Health Organization (WHO) curves. Children were classified as normal weight (-1<1 s.d.), overweight (1<2 s.d.) and obese (⩾2 s.d.). Eating behavior scores were measured through the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ), previously adapted and validated for Chilean children. Multiple linear regressions were carried out using BMI z-score as the outcome and eating behavior scores as explanatory variables. All models were adjusted by age and gender.
  
  
  
  BMI z-scores were positively associated with pro-intake scores in the subscales 'enjoyment of food', 'emotional overeating' and 'food responsiveness' (P<0.0001). Contrary to other studies, 'desire for drinks' scores were also associated with BMI z-scores (P<0.0001). In contrast, food-avoidant 'satiety responsiveness', 'slowness in eating' and 'food-fussiness' scores were negatively associated with BMI z-scores (P<0.0001).
  
  
  
  We found a significant relationship between eating behavior scores and BMI z-scores in Chilean children, showing that BMI in 7-10-year-old Chilean children is positively associated with pro-intake eating behavior scores and negatively associated with anti-intake eating behavior scores. The identification of specific eating behaviors patterns related to obesity will provide important information for the implementation of prevention programs for this disease.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Weisstaub
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrición, Diabetes y Metabolismo, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.|Escuela de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Corvalán
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.|Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uauy
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002677:Chile; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000523:psychology*