IRB

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Goodness of Fit Between Child Temperament and
Parent Feeding Practices Predicts Weight Outcomes
in a Longitudinal Sample of Girls Stephanie L.
Anzman Leann L. Birch The Center for Childhood
Obesity Research, The Department of Human
Development and Family Studies The Pennsylvania
State University
BACKGROUND
RESULTS contd
PARTICIPANTS

• There was a significant interaction between
  inhibitory control and restriction, such that
  girls with lower inhibitory control and higher
  restriction demonstrated more weight gain over
  time (plt.05) and the highest BMIs at study
  termination (plt.01), compared to girls with
  higher inhibitory control.
• On average, the girls with lower inhibitory
  control and higher restriction cross into the
  overweight range over time (greater than the 85th
  percentile for age and sex, CDC Growth Charts
  see Figure 1). On average, the girls with higher
  inhibitory control remain below the 85th
  percentile at all time points.
• Results were similar when adjusting for girls
  BMI at age 5, family income, and maternal and
  paternal education and BMI at study entry.
• Mother-rated inhibitory control and child-rated
  restriction were not significantly correlated
  (p.58).

• Inhibitory control is the ability to restrain a
  dominant response and execute a sub-dominant
  response.
• This behavioral construct is an aspect of
  temperament that overlaps with impulse control,
  self-regulation, and executive function and is an
  important contributor to many aspects of healthy
  development.
• However, little is known about its implications
  for weight outcomes in the current environment.
• The current environment has been conceptualized
  as obesogenic, promoting excessive intake and
  sedentary behavior in many individuals.
• Individual differences in behavioral styles could
  help to explain why some individuals become obese
  in such an environment, whereas others do not.
• Additionally, parents restrictive feeding
  practices have been implicated in problems with
  self-regulation, particularly childrens
  overeating and overweight. Inhibitory control
  may have different implications for weight
  outcomes depending on parents levels of
  restriction.
•  

• 197 non-Hispanic White girls
• Assessed at age 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15
• 2/3 of parents reported some college education
• Most commonly reported income category - 51,000
  to 75,000

MEASURES

• Inhibitory control mother reported when girls
  were 7 years old, using the Child Behavior
  Questionnaire (CBQ Rothbart et al., 2001)
• BMI calculated from measured heights and weights
  at all time points
• BMI change scores individual slopes calculated
  from BMI at ages 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 (calculated
  only for participants with four of the five data
  points, including age 15 n167)
• Restriction girls reports of parents
  restrictive feeding at age 7, using the Child
  Feeding Questionnaire (Birch et al., 2001)
• Demographic covariates were measured at study
  entry (girls age 5) family income, maternal and
  paternal education level and BMI

DISCUSSION
RESULTS

• Whereas a positive energy balance is necessary
  for growth, many children experience a positive
  energy balance that is too high, as evidenced by
  increasing rates of childhood overweight.
• In addition to predicting social, intellectual,
  and moral development, this study showed that
  inhibitory control predicted weight outcomes.
• The combination of lower inhibitory control and
  high parental restriction predicted the least
  healthy weight outcomes over time. Overtly
  restrictive practices are not a good fit for
  children who already struggle with inhibitory
  control.
• These results cannot demonstrate causality,
  although the findings related to change and
  adjustment for age 5 BMI suggest that inhibitory
  control temporally preceded weight outcomes.
• Goodness of fit between temperament and parenting
  practices could attenuate the risk of obesity in
  the current environment.
• Potential avenues for intervention include shifts
  from overt to covert restriction in feeding
  (i.e., focus on the availability of healthy foods
  from which children can choose), especially in
  cases where children are low on inhibitory
  control.

a
ab
b
b
OBJECTIVES

• To investigate whether girls inhibitory control
  levels predicted weight outcomes, including
• concurrent weight status
• weight change from age 7 to 15
• subsequent weight status
• To examine whether girls reports of parental
  restrictive feeding at age 7 moderated the
  relation between inhibitory control and weight
  outcomes (i.e., a goodness of fit hypothesis).

Figure 1. Average BMI change by inhibitory
control and restriction groups, with
corresponding BMI percentiles. Overall
differences in the four groups age 15 BMI
(F(148,3)4.83, plt.01) and average BMI change
scores (F(145,3)3.42, plt.05) were demonstrated.
Different subscripts to the right of the lines
indicate statistically significant differences
between groups on BMI change and age 15 BMI.
Birch, L. L., Fisher, J. O., Grimm-Thomas, K.,
Markey, C. N., Sawyer, R., Johnson, S. L.
(2001). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Child
Feeding Questionnaire A measure of parental
attitudes, beliefs and practices about child
feeding and obesity proneness. Appetite, 36,
201-210. Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., Hershey,
K., Fisher, P. (2001). Investigations of
temperament at three to seven years The
Children's Behavior Questionnaire. Child
Development, 72, 1394-1408.
1Inhibitory control and restriction were
continuous variables (range 1-7 1-3) but were
split at the middle of their response scales to
create categories that would facilitate
interpretation (low IC / low res n15 low IC /
high res n21 high IC / low res n69 high IC /
high res restriction n62). Results were similar
when using the continuous and categorical
variables in analyses. When using continuous
variables, predictors were centered to avoid
Heywood cases.
IRB 18342 Supported by NIH grants HD32973
M01 RR10732