Predictors of adults' body mass index and the association with index child's infant birth weight, in the Lifeways Cross-Generation Cohort Study of a thousand families in the Republic of Ireland

Infancy and Childhood Obesity Grade Predicts Weight Loss in Adulthood: The ONTIME Study

We examined the relationships between intergenerational obesity, weight and size at birth, and obesity from infancy to adolescence with weight loss in response to a dietary intervention. We studied 4264 participants (3369 women; mean age 41.5 ± 12.9 years) of the ONTIME study. Participants followed a weight-loss treatment based on a Mediterranean diet. Associations between grandparental and parental obesity grade, birth weight and size, and obesity grade in infancy, childhood and adolescence with total weight loss in response to treatment were assessed, using multivariate linear regression models. A lower weight loss (kg) in response to treatment was found among participants who were obese during infancy (beta coefficient -2.13 kg; 95% CI, -3.96, -0.30; p = 0.023). Furthermore, obesity during infancy and also during childhood was associated with a slower weekly rate of weight loss during treatment (p < 0.05). In conclusion, obesity in infancy and in childhood impairs the weight-loss response to dietary treatments in adulthood. Tackling obesity throughout early life may improve the effectiveness of weight-loss interventions in adulthood.

Food Disgust Scale: Spanish Version

INTRODUCTION

The Food Disgust Scale (FDS) was recently developed and validated in Swiss adult population. This study aims to: (1) validate the FDS for the first time in a Spanish-speaking Mexican population, (2) correlate food disgust sensitivity with picky eating measures, and (3) explore the association between food disgust sensitivity and body mass index (BMI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A Spanish version of the FDS (FDS-Sp) and its short version (FDS-Sp short) were tested with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in order to test the original item/factor structure. Bivariate correlations were performed to determine the association between FDS-Sp/FDS-Sp short scores and picky eating. Lastly, hierarchical linear regression analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between food disgust sensitivity and BMI.

RESULTS

The factor structure of the FDS was replicated and acceptable internal consistency values were observed for FDS-Sp subscales (α varied between 0.781 and 0.955). Moreover, FDS-Sp subscales and FDS-Sp short were correlated with picky eating. Higher score in VEGI subscale of the FDS-Sp was a significant predictor for higher BMI, explaining 4% of the variance.

CONCLUSION

FDS-Sp is a useful, reliable and robust psychometric instrument to measure the sensitivity to unpleasant food situations in a Mexican adult Spanish-speaking population. A relationship between food disgust sensitivity and picky eating, selective eating behaviors and neophobia in Mexicans was confirmed. BMI is multifactorial and only one subscale of FDS-Sp is a significant predictor for BMI status. These results are helpful to continue exploring food disgust in diverse populations.

Tri-ponderal mass index as a tool for insulin resistance prediction in overweight adolescents: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

The aims of this study were to assess the capacity of tri-ponderal mass index (TMI) to screen and predict insulin resistance (IR) in overweight Brazilian adolescents, comparing it with body mass index (BMI) predictive capacity; and to verify the IR predictive capacity of other assessment tools such as waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHR).

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out with 217 overweight adolescents, from both sexes, between 12 and 18 y of age. The participants were classified as having IR according to a previous established cutoff point of ≤3.16. IR was determined by the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance. The other assessment tools were measured with standard protocols.

RESULTS

There was no difference between TMI and BMI to explain the presence of IR. In girls, BMI presented a slightly better predictive capacity to explain IR than TMI. Moreover, WC was reported to be the most effective IR screening methods for girls. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that TMI and BMI presented similar values of sensibility and specificity for boys. Nevertheless, BMI had a better sensibility and TMI had a better specificity for girls. Interestingly, WC demonstrated a strong sensibility for both sexes.

CONCLUSIONS

TMI did not present a superior predictive accuracy for IR screening in overweight Brazilian adolescents when compared with BMI. TMI and BMI presented similar values of sensitivity and specificity for boys and WC a slightly superior IR predictive capacity for girls.