Understanding risk and causal mechanisms for developing obesity in infants and young children: A National Institutes of Health workshop.

Obesity in children remains a major public health problem, with the current prevalence in youth ages 2-19 years estimated to be 19.7%. Despite progress in identifying risk factors, current models do not accurately predict development of obesity in early childhood. There is also substantial individual variability in response to a given intervention that is not well understood. On April 29-30, 2021, the National Institutes of Health convened a virtual workshop on "Understanding Risk and Causal Mechanisms for Developing Obesity in Infants and Young Children." The workshop brought together scientists from diverse disciplines to discuss (1) what is known regarding epidemiology and underlying biological and behavioral mechanisms for rapid weight gain and development of obesity and (2) what new approaches can improve risk prediction and gain novel insights into causes of obesity in early life. Participants identified gaps and opportunities for future research to advance understanding of risk and underlying mechanisms for development of obesity in early life. It was emphasized that future studies will require multi-disciplinary efforts across basic, behavioral, and clinical sciences. An exposome framework is needed to elucidate how behavioral, biological, and environmental risk factors interact. Use of novel statistical methods may provide greater insights into causal mechanisms.

Elevated parent and child hair cortisol moderated the efficacy of a mindful eating intervention.

To explore whether elevated baseline hair cortisol moderated effects of a mindful eating intervention on anthropometrics, blood pressure (BP), household food insecurity, eating behaviour, and various psychosocial outcomes. The 14-week intervention included a parent Facebook-based programme, 3 parent meetings, preschooler letters connecting school learning to home practices, and a preschool-based mindful eating programme. Among 107 parent-preschooler dyads, mean age was 47.32 months for preschoolers and 30.12 years for parents. Among preschoolers, 54.2% were female, 8.4% were Hispanic, and 19.6% were Black. Among parents, 95.3% were female, 6.5% were Hispanic, 15.0% were Black, 39.4% were single, and 43.4% were unemployed. Preschoolers' elevated hair cortisol was related to a smaller reduction in preschoolers' % body fat (r =.31) and smaller increases in parents' perceived responsibility for child feeding (r = -.37). Parents' elevated hair cortisol was associated with smaller decreases in preschoolers' emotional eating (r = .39) and household food insecurity (r = .44). Relationships between baseline hair cortisol and post-intervention outcomes (BP, emotional eating, fruit/vegetable intake, food insecurity, and coping) varied by baseline values of outcome variables. Given that stress may attenuate intervention effects, a stress management component may be necessary to foster positive behavioural changes. Moreover, interventions should be tailored according to participants' characteristics to achieve optimal effects.

Social jetlag longitudinally predicts internalizing and externalizing behavior for adolescent females, but not males.

Biological changes contribute to preferences for later bed and wake times during adolescence, yet the social constraints of school start times necessitate early wake times. This often results in social jetlag (i.e. misalignment between preferred sleep timing on weekends and school days). We examined whether social jetlag predicts adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior over time and/or whether associations differ based on sex. We used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development Study (n = 767) to test whether social jetlag at 6th grade (ages 12-13 years) predicted internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 15 years and whether child sex moderated associations. Controlling for internalizing and externalizing behavior at 6th grade (ages 12-13 years), results were that social jetlag at 6th grade (ages 12-13 years) predicted more internalizing and externalizing behaviors at age 15 for females, but not males. These findings show that social jetlag during early adolescence confers risk for internalizing and externalizing behavior in females at mid-adolescence. Greater attention should be placed on identifying and addressing social jetlag in adolescent females.

Emotion regulation as a complex system: A multi-contextual and multi- level approach to understanding emotion expression and cortisol reactivity among Chinese and US preschoolers.

Are children from "Eastern" cultures less emotionally expressive and reactive than children from "Western" cultures? To answer this, we used a multi-level and multi-contextual approach to understand variations in emotion displays and cortisol reactivity among preschoolers living in China and the United States. One hundred two preschoolers from China (N = 58; 55% males) and the United States (N = 44, 48% males) completed three (i.e., control, interpersonal-related, and achievement-related) emotion-challenging paradigms over 3 days. Behavioral emotion expressions were coded, and salivary cortisol was sampled 30 minutes before and across 90 minutes post-task. Without considering context, Chinese preschoolers displayed fewer levels of positive and negative emotion expressions relative to their United States counterparts. However, Chinese preschoolers displayed similar levels of expressions as their United States counterparts during an achievement-related challenge that is more salient to their sociocultural emphases and showed higher negative emotion expressions in this challenge, relative to other contexts. Moreover, only the achievement-related challenge elicited increased cortisol levels among Chinese preschoolers, and this was correlated with higher levels of negative expressions. For US preschoolers, no cortisol increase was observed in any challenging paradigms, nor was cortisol associated with emotional expressions. Findings counter prior notions that East Asian children are generally less emotionally expressive. Instead, an achievement-related challenge elicited higher emotion expression and cortisol reactivity among Chinese preschoolers, suggesting that children's emotion expression and biological reactivity may be most responsive to contexts salient to their socio-cultural environments. We discuss the importance of considering cultural contexts when studying emotion regulation. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Chinese preschoolers displayed lower overall positive and negative expressions relative to their US counterparts without considering situational contexts. Chinese preschoolers displayed similar levels of emotion expressions as their US counterparts during an achievement-related challenge salient to their social-cultural environment. Chinese preschoolers are particularly responsive to achievement-related challenges, relative to other emotion-challenging situations that are less culturally salient. No cortisol increase was observed in any of the emotion-challenging paradigms among US preschoolers. Children's emotion expression and biological reactivity may be most responsive to challenges relevant to their socio-cultural environments.

Developmental trajectories of eating behaviors and cross-lagged associations with weight across infancy.

Examining typical developmental trajectories of infant eating behaviors, correlates of those trajectories, and cross-lagged associations between eating behaviors and anthropometry, is important to understand the etiology of these behaviors and their relevance to growth early in the lifespan. Mothers (N = 276) completed the Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire (BEBQ) and infant anthropometrics were measured at ages 1, 2, 4, 6, and 10 months. Infant and maternal characteristics were collected by maternal report. Trajectories of eating behaviors were identified using latent class growth modeling and bivariate analyses examined associations of infant eating behavior trajectory membership with infant and maternal characteristics. Cross-lagged analyses examined associations between BEBQ subscales and infant weight-for-length z-score. Infant eating behavior trajectories included: Consistently High (62%) and Consistently Moderate (38%) Enjoyment of Food; Consistently High (9%), Moderate & Decreasing (43%), and Low & Decreasing (48%) Food Responsiveness; and Consistently High (62%) and Moderate & Decreasing (38%) General Appetite. Trajectory group membership was not associated with infant sex, gestational age, birthweight, or having been exclusively fed breastmilk at 2 months. Consistently High trajectories for Enjoyment of Food, Food Responsiveness, and General Appetite were associated with maternal demographic markers of psychosocial risk (e.g., lower maternal age and educational attainment). Food Responsiveness and General Appetite tracked strongly across infancy within individuals. Cross-lagged associations of Enjoyment of Food, Food Responsiveness, and General Appetite with weight-for-length z-score across infancy were generally null. Much additional work is needed to understand eating behaviors in infancy, their development, and their etiology. Further understanding of infant eating behaviors will provide the basis for future interventions to improve life course nutrition, growth, and health.

Food addiction and dietary restraint in postpartum women: The role of childhood trauma exposure and postpartum depression.

The early postpartum period is a sensitive time for understanding women's high-risk eating (i.e., eating behavior associated with negative health outcomes) given potential long-term eating behavior implications for infants. Food addiction and dietary restraint are two high-risk eating phenotypes associated with long-term negative health outcomes that have been theoretically linked. Yet, no research has considered how much these constructs overlap during the early postpartum period. The present study sought to characterize these two high-risk eating phenotypes in postpartum women to examine whether these are distinct constructs with specific etiologies and to inform future targets of intervention. Women (N = 277) in the early postpartum period reported on high-risk eating, childhood trauma exposure, depression symptoms, and pre-pregnancy weight. Women's height was measured and pre-pregnancy BMI was calculated. We conducted bivariate correlations and path analysis to characterize the relationship between food addiction and dietary restraint, controlling for pre-pregnancy BMI. Results showed that food addiction and dietary restraint were not significantly associated and that women's childhood trauma exposure and postpartum depression were associated with food addiction but not dietary restraint. Sequential mediation revealed that higher levels of childhood trauma exposure were associated with worse postpartum depression and, in turn, greater food addiction during the early postpartum period. Findings suggest that food addiction and dietary restraint have distinct psychosocial predictors and etiological pathways, which suggests important construct validity differences between the two high-risk eating phenotypes. Interventions seeking to address food addiction in postpartum women and mitigate the impact of this high-risk eating phenotype on the next generation may benefit from treating postpartum depression, especially in women with histories of childhood trauma exposure.

Capacity for Regulation of Energy Intake in Infancy.

Importance: The capacity for regulation of energy intake (REI) to match energy needs is thought to contribute to differences in weight gain, and preventing excess infant weight gain is a priority. Objective: To determine capacity for REI across infancy. Design, Setting, and Participants: For this cohort study, a convenience sample of mother-infant dyads was recruited from the community in Michigan between 2015 and 2019. Inclusion criteria were healthy, full-term infants with weight appropriate for gestational age; biological mothers who were 18 years or older, English speaking, and a legal and custodial guardian; and infant having had consumed 2 oz or more in 1 feeding from an artificial nipple at least once per week. Infants were followed in the home setting with staff support for up to 12 months. Interventions: Mother-infant dyads participated at infant age 1, 2.5, 5, 7, 10, and 12 months. In the intervention condition, mothers offered a feeding every hour for 6 hours. In the control condition, mothers fed infants as they typically would for 6 hours. Intake was recorded and kilocalories calculated. Main Outcomes and Measures: Capacity for REI was indexed as the difference in intake in kilocalories per kilogram of body weight (intervention minus control condition); a value of 0 indicated perfect REI. Maternal and infant characteristics were obtained by questionnaire, and anthropometry was measured. Using multiple imputation, the intercept and slope for difference in kilocalories per kilogram across the 6 age points were estimated using mixed models accounting for repeated measures within participants. Statistical analyses were conducted between September 2021 and February 2023. Results: The sample included 175 infants (87 [49.71%] female, 88 [50.29%] male; 494 pairs of intervention and control conditions and 4630 feedings). The mean (SD) 12-month weight-for-age z score was 0.1 (0.8). Mean (SD) gestational age as 39.55 (1.05) weeks, and mean (SD) birth weight was 3.43 (0.41) kg. Mean (SD) breastfeeding duration for those who reported stopping by 12 months was 17.83 (12.03) weeks. As designed, the intervention (compared with control) condition included more feedings at shorter intervals. After collapsing the data across age points in a mixed model accounting for repeated measures within participants, the REI estimate at 1 month differed from 0. On average, infants ate 5.21 kcal/kg (95% CI, 2.89-7.54 kcal/kg) more in the frequent feeding intervention condition than in the ad lib feeding control condition. This difference did not significantly change over 12 months of infancy (REI slope = -0.01 kcal/kg per month; 95% CI, -0.02 to 0.03 kcal/kg per month). Conclusions and Relevance: The study's findings suggested that, on average, when offered more frequent feedings, healthy, full-term infants may overeat. The results provide support for responsive feeding as a strategy for preventing excess infant weight gain.

Characterization of a Vigorous sucking style in early infancy and its predictive value for weight gain and eating behaviors at 12 months.

This study sought to identify sucking profiles among healthy, full-term infants and assess their predictive value for future weight gain and eating behaviors. Pressure waves of infant sucking were captured during a typical feeding at age 4 months and quantified via 14 metrics. Anthropometry was measured at 4 and 12 months, and eating behaviors were measured by parent report via the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire-Toddler (CEBQ-T) at 12 months. Sucking profiles were created using a clustering approach on the pressure wave metrics, and utility of these profiles was assessed for predicting which infants will have weight-for-age (WFA) percentile changes from ages 4-12 months that exceed thresholds of 5, 10, and 15 percentiles, and for estimating each CEBQ-T subscale score. Among 114 infants, three sucking profiles were identified: Vigorous (51%), Capable (28%), and Leisurely (21%). Sucking profiles were found to improve estimation of change in WFA from 4 to 12 months and 12-month maternal-reported eating behaviors above infant sex, race/ethnicity, birthweight, gestational age, and pre-pregnancy body mass index alone. Infants with a Vigorous sucking profile gained significantly more weight during the study period than infants with a Leisurely profile. Infant sucking characteristics may aid in predicting which infants may be at greater risk of obesity, and therefore sucking profiles deserve more investigation.

Associations of maternal food addiction, dietary restraint, and pre-pregnancy BMI with infant eating behaviors and risk for overweight.

Maternal food addiction, dietary restraint, and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) are associated with high-risk eating behaviors and weight characteristics in children and adolescents. However, little is known about how these maternal factors are associated with individual differences in eating behaviors and risk for overweight in infancy. In a sample of 204 infant-mother dyads, maternal food addiction, dietary restraint and pre-pregnancy BMI were assessed using maternal self-report measures. Infant eating behaviors (as measured by maternal report), objectively measured hedonic response to sucrose, and anthropometry were measured at 4 months of age. Separate linear regression analyses were used to test for associations between maternal risk factors and infant eating behaviors and risk for overweight. Maternal food addiction was associated with increased risk for infant overweight based on World Health Organization criteria. Maternal dietary restraint was negatively associated with maternal report of infant appetite, but positively associated with objectively measured infant hedonic response to sucrose. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was positively associated with maternal report of infant appetite. Maternal food addiction, dietary restraint, and pre-pregnancy BMI are each associated with distinct eating behaviors and risk for overweight in early infancy. Additional research is needed to identify the mechanistic pathways driving these distinct associations between maternal factors and infant eating behaviors and risk for overweight. Further, it will be important to investigate whether these infant characteristics predict the development of future high-risk eating behaviors or excessive weight gain later in life.

Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial of a mastery-climate motor skills intervention, Children's Health Activity and Motor Program (CHAMP), on self-regulation in preschoolers.

INTRODUCTION: Self-regulation (SR) is critical to healthy development in children, and intervention approaches (i.e., professional training, classroom-based curricula, parent-focused intervention) have shown to support or enhance SR. However, to our knowledge, none have tested whether changes in children's SR across an intervention relate to changes in children's health behavior and outcomes. This study, the Promoting Activity and Trajectories of Health (PATH) for Children-SR Study uses a cluster-randomized control trial to examine the immediate effects of a mastery-climate motor skills intervention on SR. Secondly, this study examines the associations between changes in SR and changes in children's health behaviors (i.e., motor competence, physical activity, and perceived competence) and outcomes (i.e., body mass index and waist circumference) (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier, NCT03189862). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The PATH-SR study will be a cluster-randomized clinical trial. A total of 120 children between the ages of 3.5 to 5 years of age will be randomized to a mastery-climate motor skills intervention (n = 70) or control (n = 50) condition. SR will be assessed using measures that evaluate cognitive SR (cognitive flexibility and working memory), behavioral SR (behavioral inhibition), and emotional SR (emotional regulation). Health behaviors will be assessed with motor skills, physical activity, and perceived competence (motor and physical) and health outcomes will be waist circumference and body mass index. SR, health behaviors, and health outcomes will be assessed before and after the intervention (pre-test and post-test). Given the randomization design, 70 children in the intervention group and 50 in the control group, we have 80% power to detect an effect size of 0.52, at a Type I error level of 0.05. With the data collected, we will test the intervention effect on SR with a two-sample t-test comparing the intervention group and the control group. We will further evaluate the associations between changes in SR and changes in children's health behaviors and health outcomes, using mixed effect regression models, with a random effect to account for within-subject correlations. The PATH-SR study addresses gaps in pediatric exercise science and child development research. Findings hold the potential to help shape public health and educational policies and interventions that support healthy development during the early years. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval for this study was obtained through the Health Sciences and Behavioral Sciences Institutional Review Board, University of Michigan (HUM00133319). The PATH-SR study is funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund. Findings will be disseminated via print, online media, dissemination events and practitioner and/or research journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier, NCT03189862.

Weight bias among children and parents during very early childhood: A scoping review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: Exposure to and endorsement of weight bias attitudes are risk factors for poor mental health and weight-related outcomes among children and youth. Better understanding early-emerging weight bias, and how parents of young children may influence development of weight bias, may help reduce its occurrence. Although early childhood (under 5 years) is a developmental period characterized by increasing social-cognitive abilities to categorize others based on external features such as weight, little is known about the emergence or socialization of very early weight bias. The aim of this review was therefore to investigate weight bias and its correlates among very young children and parents of very young children as potential socialization agents. METHODS: A comprehensive search strategy was used to search electronic databases for studies that examined weight bias attitudes among children and parents. The review included studies that assessed weight bias in children and/or parents of children ages 1-3 years old (some including 3-5 year-olds), and that were published in English between 2011 and 2021. RESULTS: Thirteen of the 1748 identified studies met inclusion criteria. Only two studies used a longitudinal design. Seven of eight studies of children used behavioral tasks to assess child weight bias; among the 10 studies including parents, 4 used interviews and 6 used questionnaires to assess parent weight bias. Children were found to display anti-fat and pro-thin bias, with bias more prevalent among older children. Positive associations between parent and child weight bias were found in four studies. CONCLUSIONS: Child weight bias emerges prior to age 3 years and shows some association with parent weight bias. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to characterize influences on emerging weight bias among very young children.

The effects of housing insecurity on children's health: a scoping review.

There is a well-established connection between housing conditions and children's health. However, little is known on how housing insecurity indicators including, multiple moves, being behind on rent/mortgage, doubling up and crowding, affect child health. The purpose of this paper is to identify how pathways of association between housing insecurity and health may become established during childhood, using evidence from the literature. Using the Joanna Briggs Institute framework for scoping reviews, a search was conducted using key terms associated with housing insecurity and health among children. Twenty-seven articles were included in the review. Forty-six outcomes related to child health were identified throughout the articles. Physical health was the most commonly examined outcome in these articles. Multiple moves was the most common housing insecurity indicator associated with health. This review identified multiple studies showing negative associations between housing insecurity and poorer health-related indicators among children. Results from this review provide important information on the implication of certain housing insecurity indicators for children's health. Although housing is increasingly recognized as a social determinant of health, it may be particularly important to go beyond physical housing conditions to consider and measure housing insecurity in future work, as a key social determinant shaping health in pediatric populations.

In this scoping review, we examine the evidence for pathways linking housing insecurity including, multiple moves, being behind on rent/mortgage, doubling up and crowding, and multiple health outcomes (i.e. physical and mental health, behavior, cognitive development) in early and middle-aged children. It is important to acknowledge housing insecurity as a barrier to achieving optimal health in children.

Parenting and Lead Mitigation at Home: A Multifaceted Community Partnership Model Promoting Parent Engagement in Lead Exposure Prevention.

Young children are at high risk of lead poisoning, which can damage early cognitive and behavioral development and have long-lasting impacts. Home environments are persistent sources of exposure for children in urban, low-income settings. Community-academic partnerships are essential for public health intervention strategies addressing residential household lead exposure, yet community organization staff and home visitors often experience strain and burnout. We describe Parenting and Lead Mitigation at Home, a multifaceted partnership project to (a) develop and implement a community-based, peer-delivered education program for parents of young children in neighborhoods at risk for home lead exposure and (b) support the home visitors delivering programming. We developed, delivered, and initially evaluated Lead 101, a lead-exposure prevention curriculum informed by the Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) model. The goals were to educate parents around lead exposure risks and empower parents to reduce their child's risk. We developed a novel Reflective Practice pilot curriculum designed to provide emotional support to peer educators and community organization staff who delivered home-based programming. We trained 11 peer educators who delivered Lead 101 to 62 families. We pilot-tested the Reflective Practice curriculum with five community organization staff. The implementation process and pilot evaluation data suggest increased parent knowledge and self-efficacy regarding mitigation of home-based lead hazards, and high satisfaction with reflective practice. Using this model to develop multifaceted partnerships among universities, community-based organizations, and focal communities may facilitate community-engaged program development for families and systematic support for individuals working directly with families, thereby indirectly promoting child health and well-being.

Longitudinal Associations Between Use of Mobile Devices for Calming and Emotional Reactivity and Executive Functioning in Children Aged 3 to 5 Years.

Importance: Mobile devices are often used to keep young children occupied or calm, but it is not known whether this practice influences child development. Objective: To examine the longitudinal, bidirectional associations between the parent-reported frequency of using mobile devices to calm young children and children's executive functioning (EF) and emotional reactivity, testing moderation by child sex and temperament. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective cohort study included a community-based convenience sample of English-speaking parents of typically developing children aged 3 to 5 years. The study duration was from August 2018 to January 2020, with baseline (T1), 3-month follow-up (T2), and 6-month follow-up (T3) waves. Exposures: Parent-reported frequency of use of mobile devices to calm children when upset (5-point Likert scale). Main Outcomes and Measures: At each wave, the child's EF was assessed with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version Global Executive Composite and emotional reactivity with the Child Behavior Checklist Emotional Reactivity subscale. Structural equation models were built to examine cross-lagged associations of the use of devices for calming, EF, and emotional reactivity, testing for moderation by child sex or temperament (Child Behavior Questionnaire-Very Short Form surgency score, median split). Results: Of 422 eligible parents with data at T1, 375 (88.9%) provided data at T2 and 366 (86.7%) at T3. At baseline, the mean (SD) age of the 422 children was 3.8 (0.5) years, the number of boys in the sample was 224 (53.1%), the number of individuals of non-Hispanic White race and ethnicity was 313 (74.2%), and among the parents, 254 (60.2%) had a college degree or higher. Among the boys, the use of devices to calm at T2 was associated with higher emotional reactivity at T3 (r [standardized regression coefficient] = 0.20; 95% CI, 0.10-0.30), while higher emotional reactivity at T2 had a nonsignificant association with increased device use for calming at T3 (r = 0.10; 95% CI, -0.01 to 0.21). Among children with high temperamental surgency, the use of devices to calm at T2 was associated with increased emotional reactivity at T3 (r = 0.11; 95% CI, 0.01-0.22), while higher emotional reactivity at T2 was associated with increased device use for calming at T3 (r = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.02-0.24). Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this study suggest that the frequent use of mobile devices for calming young children may displace their opportunities for learning emotion-regulation strategies over time; therefore, pediatric health care professionals may wish to encourage alternate calming approaches.

Mastery-oriented motor competence intervention improves behavioral but not cognitive self-regulation in head start preschoolers: Randomized controlled trial results.

Motor competence and self-regulation develop rapidly in early childhood; emerging work suggests motor competence interventions as a promising way to promote self-regulation (e.g., behavioral inhibition; cognitive flexibility) in young children. We tested the impact of a mastery-focused motor competence intervention (Children's Health Activity Motor Program [CHAMP])1 on behavioral and cognitive aspects of self-regulation among children attending Head Start. Grounded in Achievement Goal Theory, CHAMP encourages children's autonomy to navigate a mastery-oriented motor skill learning environment. Children (M age = 53.4 months, SD = 3.2) were cluster-randomized by classroom (6 per condition) to an intervention (n = 67) or control condition (n = 45). Behavioral self-regulation skills were assessed using the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task (HTKS). Cognitive self-regulation skills were assessed using working memory and dimensional card-sorting executive function tasks. Random-effects hurdle models accounting for zero-inflated distributions indicated that children receiving CHAMP, versus not, were almost 3 times more likely to have non-zero HTKS scores at post-test; OR: 2.98 (CI 1.53, 5.81); however, there were no effects on any cognitive aspects of self-regulation (all p's > 0.05). Mastery climate motor competence interventions are an ecologically valid strategy that may have a greater impact on preschoolers' behavioral than cognitive aspects of self-regulation.

Weight stigma and physical activity avoidance among college-aged students.

This study explored cross-sectional associations between prior weight stigma experiences, physical activity (PA) intentions, behaviors, and the acute effects of a weight stigma exposure on PA intentions and behaviors among undergraduate students. Weight-stigma experiences and behavioral intentions were self-reported. Moderate-to-vigorous PA and total PA were assessed using accelerometry. Participants were randomized into two experimental conditions (a weight stigma or control condition) to assess the acute effects of a weight stigma exposure. Forty-nine students (81.6% female; 59.2% Non-Hispanic White; 19.6 ± 1.1 years of age; body mass index: 23.9 ± 4.0 kg/m2) completed the study. Prior weight stigma experiences were positively associated with PA avoidance (ß = 12.1 ± 2.7; p < .001) but were not associated with positive PA intentions or behaviors (ps > .05). There were no differences in positive PA intentions, PA avoidance, or PA behaviors across conditions (all ps > .05). Future studies should examine the long-term effects of weight stigma on PA avoidance and objectively measured PA in young college students.

Environmental contaminants and child development: Developmentally-informed opportunities and recommendations for integrating and informing child environmental health science.

Child environmental health (CEH) science has identified numerous effects of early life exposures to common, ubiquitous environmental toxicants. CEH scientists have documented the costs not only to individual children but also to population-level health effects of such exposures. Importantly, such risks are unequally distributed in the population, with historically marginalized communities and the children living in these communities receiving the most damaging exposures. Developmental science offers a lens and set of methodologies to identify nuanced biological and behavioral processes that drive child development across physical, cognitive, and socioemotional domains. Developmental scientists are also experts in considering the multiple, hierarchically-layered contexts that shape development alongside toxicant exposure. Such contexts and the individuals acting within them make up an overarching "child serving ecosystem" spanning systems and sectors that serve children directly and indirectly. Articulating how biobehavioral mechanisms and social-ecological contexts unfold from a developmental perspective are needed in order to inform CEH translation and intervention efforts across this child-serving ecosystem. Developmentalists can also benefit from integrating CEH science findings in their work by considering the role of the physical environment, and environmental toxicants specifically, on child health and development. Building on themes that were laid out by Trentacosta and Mulligan in 2020, this commentary presents recommendations for connecting developmental and CEH science and for translating such work so that it can be used to promote child development in an equitable manner across this child-serving ecosystem. These opportunities include (1) Using Developmentally-Informed Conceptual Models; (2) Applying Creative, Sophisticated, and Rigorous Methods; (3) Integrating Developmentally-Sensitive Intervention Considerations; and (4) Establishing Interdisciplinary Collaborations and Cross-Sector Partnerships.

Characteristics of eating behavior profiles among preschoolers with low-income backgrounds: a person-centered analysis.

BACKGROUND: Individual differences in eating behaviors among young children are well-established, but the extent to which behaviors aggregate within individuals to form distinct eating behavior profiles remains unknown. Our objectives were to identify eating behavior profiles among preschool-aged children and evaluate associations with temperament and weight. METHODS: A secondary, cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 2 cohort studies was conducted involving 1004 children aged 3-4 years and their parents with low-income backgrounds. Children's eating behaviors and temperament were assessed by parental report. Body mass index z-scores and weight status were calculated using measured heights and weights. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to generate profiles and bivariate analyses were used to evaluate associations with temperament and weight status. RESULTS: LPA revealed the presence of 3 eating behavior profiles among children. Children with High Food Approach profiles (21.2%) had lower temperamental inhibitory control and the highest percent of children with obesity relative to the other profiles. Children with High Food Avoidant profiles (35.6%) had lower temperamental impulsivity and lower BMI z-scores relative to the other profiles, whereas children with Moderate Eating profiles (intermediary levels of all behaviors; 43.2%) had higher temperamental inhibitory control and lower anger/frustration, than other profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Young children's eating behaviors appear to aggregate within individuals to form empirically distinct profiles reflecting food approach, food avoidance, and moderate approaches to eating that are differentiated by aspects of temperament and weight. Future work should seek to understand the extent to which health promotion and obesity prevention approaches should be tailored to take into account children's fundamental dispositions towards eating.