The genomics of childhood eating behaviours

Moritz Herle, Mohamed Abdulkadir, Christopher Hübel, Diana Santos Ferreira, Rachel Bryant-Waugh, Ruth J. F. Loos, Cynthia M. Bulik, Bianca Stavola and Nadia Micali ()
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Moritz Herle: University College London
Mohamed Abdulkadir: University of Geneva
Christopher Hübel: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London
Diana Santos Ferreira: University of Bristol
Rachel Bryant-Waugh: Maudsley Hospital
Ruth J. F. Loos: The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Cynthia M. Bulik: Karolinska Institutet
Bianca Stavola: University College London
Nadia Micali: University College London

Nature Human Behaviour, 2021, vol. 5, issue 5, 625-630

Abstract: Abstract Eating behaviours may be expressions of genetic risk for obesity and are potential antecedents of later eating disorders. However, childhood eating behaviours are heterogeneous and transient. Here we show associations between polygenic scores for body mass index (BMI-PGS) and anorexia nervosa (AN-PGS) with eating behaviour trajectories during the first 10 years of life using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), n = 7,825. Results indicated that 1 s.d. increase in the BMI-PGS was associated with a 30–37% increased risk for early- and mid-childhood overeating. In contrast, 1 s.d. increase in BMI-PGS was associated with a 20% decrease in risk of persistent high levels of undereating and a 15% decrease in risk of persistent fussy eating. There was no evidence for a significant association between AN-PGS and eating behaviour trajectories. Our results support the notion that child eating behaviours share common genetic variants associated with BMI.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-01019-y

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