Psychological and behavioral effects of genetic risk testing for obesity: a systematic review

Physician weight influences responses to a public health message about the genetics of obesity

OBJECTIVE

Many patients prefer lean physicians to physicians with obesity and place higher credence in their weight management advice. Because genetic information about weight can be viewed as self-serving for individuals with overweight or obesity, physicians with obesity may be discounted when sharing such information. As provision of genetic information regarding weight becomes increasingly common in public health messaging, could a physician's own weight influence how these messages are received by the public?

METHODS

In an online survey, 967 participants were randomly assigned a physician profile (lean v. has obesity) with a media interview transcript discussing genetic factors of a common health condition (obesity v. osteoporosis).

RESULTS

Participants perceived the physician with obesity who discussed genetic factors in obesity as less trustworthy and less credible. Participants were also less likely to anticipate following her advice on weight-related issues. Participants with higher BMI had less negative perceptions of this physician.

CONCLUSION

Physicians with obesity, when providing public health messaging regarding genetic information about obesity, may be met with distrust and negative attitudes toward the physician.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Future research should investigate health communication strategies that address this form of weight stigma while accurately conveying genetic factors that contribute to weight.

Parents' genetic attributions for children's eating behaviors: Relationships with beliefs, emotions, and food choice behavior

Considering genetic influences on children's eating behavior could result in reduced self-efficacy for healthy child feeding and less healthy feeding behavior among parents. Indeed, one's eating behaviors are typically thought of as the volitional aspects of weight management that one can directly control. The current study assessed parental genetic attributions for their child's eating behavior, and relationships between these attributions and self-efficacy, guilt, and feeding behaviors. Participants included 190 parents of a child between 4 and 7 years old. Parents' genetic attributions for child eating behaviors were lower than genetic attributions related to child weight. Higher genetic attributions for child eating behaviors were related to lower self-efficacy for feeding the right amounts of food, higher-calorie food choices for the child in a virtual reality-based buffet simulation, and higher levels of guilt. The current findings suggest that heightened beliefs about role of genetics in children's eating behavior is associated with maladaptive affect and behavior among parents. This should be kept in mind when considering whether, when, and how to provide information to parents highlighting the role of genetics in children's eating behavior.

Investigating the Efficacy of Genetic, Environmental, and Multifactorial Risk Information When Communicating Obesity Risk to Parents of Young Children

BACKGROUND

Effectively communicating with parents about children's obesity risk is of critical importance for preventive medicine and public health.

PURPOSE

The current study investigates the efficacy of communications focused on two primary causes of obesity: genes and environment.

METHODS

We compared parental feeding responses to messages focused on (i) genetics alone, (ii) family environment alone, (iii) genetics-family environment interaction (G × FE), and (iv) no causal message. We also examined whether parental guilt mediates the effect of message type on feeding. Our sample consisted of 190 parents, half mothers and half fathers, of children 3-7 years old. After receiving one of the four types of messages, parents chose foods for their child using the Virtual Reality Buffet measure. Parents responded to questionnaires in the lab and at 1-week follow-up.

RESULTS

In the VR Buffet, parents did not feed their children differently in message provision conditions versus control. There were, however, differences among message provision conditions wherein mothers who received any genetic information chose higher-calorie meals in the VR Buffet. At 1-week follow-up, parents who received information about genetics alone reported feeding their child more junk food and fatty meat on self-report food frequency assessments; there were no such differences for sugary beverages, sugary foods, or fast foods. Parental guilt was typically higher for participants who received family environment information alone but did not mediate the relation between information provision and feeding outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

While none of the messages improved feeding above the control condition, GxFE messages were associated with a better overall profile of outcomes. As such, it may be beneficial for messaging for parents about children's obesity risk to include content that reflects the complexity of genetic and environmental contributions to obesity risk.

Beliefs about genetic influences on eating behaviors: Characteristics and associations with weight management confidence

INTRODUCTION

The development of precision approaches for customized health interventions is a promising application of genomic discovery. To optimize such weight management interventions, target audiences will need to be engaged in research and implementation efforts. Investigation into approaches that engage these audiences will be required to ensure that genomic information, particularly with respect to genomic influences on endophenotypes like eating behavior, is understood and accepted, and not associated with unintended adverse outcomes. We took steps to characterize healthy individuals' beliefs about genetic influences on eating behavior.

METHODS

Data were collected via online survey from 261 participants selected at random from a database.

RESULTS

Respondents infrequently spontaneously identified eating behavior-related factors as running in families. However, those who perceived themselves as overweight and perceived a family history of overweight were more likely to attribute eating behavior to genetics on closed-ended assessments, β=0.252, p=0.039. Genetic attributions for eating behaviors were associated with lower confidence in ability to control eating and weight, β=-0.119, p=0.035.

CONCLUSIONS

These exploratory findings shed light on beliefs about genetic influences on eating, a behavioral trait (rather than a disease). This investigation can inform future health intervention efforts.