Early Mother-Child Relationships Influence Weight Regulation in Pre-School Children

While there has been significant historical interest in how the maternal- infant dyadic relationship shapes eating behaviour and obesity risk, only recently have systematic, longitudinal studies of this association been reported. The current thesis both replicates and extends this recent work using three studies based on the MAVAN developmental cohort: Study 1 examined the association between 6 month maternal sensitivity scores and BMI z-scores measured at 48 months of age. As hypothesized, low maternal sensitivity early in life was associated with higher BMI z-scores and an increased likelihood of being at risk for overweight, overweight or obese in girls but not boys. These findings replicate recent work by Anderson SE et al (2012); we provide the first evidence of a possible sex difference in this relationship, and extend prior findings to the pre-school years. Study 2 examined whether emotional overeating, food responsiveness, and/or enjoyment of food at 48 months as assessed using the Childrenâ s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) mediated the relationship between 6 month maternal sensitivity scores and BMI z-scores at 48 months. Results indicated that only emotional overeating was a significant mediator of this association for girls but not for boys. Further analysis revealed that in girls only, low maternal sensitivity was associated with an increased likelihood of being at risk for overweight in connection with emotional overeating. Study 3 examined whether exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months moderates the relationship between 6 month maternal sensitivity scores and BMI z-scores measured at 48 months of age, and whether the sex of the child might further moderate this association. The results supported the general working hypothesis that exclusive breastfeeding at age 6 months moderates the association between maternal sensitivity at 6 months and child BMI z-scores at 48 months. Overall these results demonstrated another highly novel developmental trajectory relevant to early weight regulation, and offered new support for current WHO recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding through 6 months of age. Taken together, these three studies have demonstrated that early maternal sensitivity provides a significant influence on child weight regulation/ BMI in the pre-school years, moderated by sex and exclusive breastfeeding and mediated by emotional overeating.Ph.D