31
Dec 15

Obesity Week 2015 series: Chelsea Rose

Several COPT fellows attended Obesity Week 2015, the Annual Meeting of the Obesity Society, in Los Angeles, California from November 2 – November 7, 2015. Each student gave us a recap and reflection on her experience. We will be featuring one student per post as part of this series.

Chelsea Rose, PhD

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Q: What was the title of your presentation?

A: Do differences between primiparous and multiparous mothers in feeding practices, perceptions of infant fussiness, and infant sleep place firstborns at a greater risk for obesity?

Q: What were the main points of your presentation?

A: The aim of this study was to examine differences between primiparous (first-time) mothers and multiparous mothers (mothers who have had at least one previous live birth) in a number of factors related to obesity risk, i.e. maternal feeding practices and infant sleep. Primiparous mothers are more likely to report their infant was fussy and to engage in infant feeding practices inconsistent with current guidance and firstborns surpassed later-born children in weight-for-age z-scores after 7 months. Primiparous mothers may benefit from targeted interventions to encourage responsive, age-appropriate feeding practices.

Q: What is something you learned while at Obesity Week 2015?

A: The most memorable talk for me this year was Shari Barkin’s talk about her community based intervention “Salud con la Familia (Health with the family).”  I was impressed by the a novel, personalized approach used in the intervention, and how engaging she was as a speaker.  In my work I focused more of my research on family or school-based interventions. After Dr. Barkin’s presentation, I am much more interested in interventions at the community level. The application of tailored community based approaches such as this one shows promise as an effective way to provide personalized interventions to specific target populations, such as Latino families.

Q: How do you hope your general program of research will contribute to the field of obesity prevention?

A: Overall, I hope my research encourages further research into other differences between the needs of first-time and multiparous mothers as very little research in the feeding domain has examined maternal parity as a predictor differences in maternal feeding practices yet a wide body of research has demonstrated a higher risk of developing obesity among firstborns (children of first-time mothers).


04
Dec 15

Obesity Week 2015 Series: Kameron Moding

Several COPT fellows attended Obesity Week 2015, the Annual Meeting of the Obesity Society, in Los Angeles, California from November 2 – November 7, 2015. Each student gave us a recap and reflection on her experience. We will be featuring one student per post as part of this series.

Kameron Moding, MS

Moding TOS 2015

Q: What was the title of your presentation?

A: Direct and moderated effects of toddler inhibitory control on weight status at age 4

Q: What were the main points of your presentation?

A: This study provides preliminary evidence that poor regulatory abilities during toddlerhood predict higher BMI z-scores at age 4. However, maternal restriction appears to moderate this relationship. For toddlers with highly restrictive mothers, lower inhibitory control predicts higher BMI during childhood. These relationships are present above and beyond the effects of demographic variables, such as family income and maternal BMI. The results of this study are important because they suggest that the relationship between inhibitory control and weight status, typically found in older children, is also present in very early childhood.

Q: What is something you learned while at Obesity Week 2015?

A: One theme that I noticed in several different presentations at Obesity Week 2015 is the importance individual differences in weight status and physical activity. For example, Dr. Jody Ganiban emphasized the importance of examining differences in BMI trajectories (i.e. increased risk throughout childhood vs. an increased risk that emerges during later childhood) when predicting later health. Dr. Shari Barkin also discussed the importance of measuring individual differences in the types of physical activity exhibited by preschool children (i.e. clustered spurts of activity vs. clustered bouts of sustained activity). These individual differences in BMI trajectories and physical activity are important because they may differentially predict later health outcomes.

Q: How do you hope your general program of research will contribute to the field of obesity prevention?

A:  I hope my research emphasizes the importance of studying child characteristics, such as temperament and regulatory behaviors, as predictors of later food preferences and obesity. These characteristics emerge very early in life and appear to have a substantial impact on later eating behavior and weight status.


04
Dec 15

Obesity Week 2015 Series: Laural English

Several COPT fellows attended Obesity Week 2015, the Annual Meeting of the Obesity Society, in Los Angeles, California from November 2 – November 7, 2015. Each student gave us a recap and reflection on her experience. We will be featuring one student per post as part of this series.

Laural English, MSc

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Q: What was the title of your presentation?

A: Appetitive traits are associated with the brain response to food portion size in children. Authors: LK English, SN Fearnbach, M Lasschuijt, SJ Wilson, JO Fisher, JS Savage, BJ Rolls, KL Keller

Q: What were the main points of your presentation?

A: Faster eaters may find large food portions rewarding, as evidenced by greater activity in the left ventral tegmental area, a classic reward region. Endorsers of emotion-based appetitive traits (e.g., emotional overeating) may have reduced inhibitory control around large food portions, as evidenced by decreased activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus. Children with high food enjoyment may exhibit greater inhibitory control to large portions, as evidenced by greater activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus.

Q: What is something you learned while at Obesity Week 2015?

A: One of the highlights of this conference for me was the early career workshop, which focused on steps to take for successful grant funding as well as round-table discussions on interviewing for post-doc and faculty positions, manuscripts and grant-writing. I also enjoyed several sessions that I wouldn’t normally have attended like the Meet the Funders symposium.

Q: How do you hope your general program of research will contribute to the field of obesity prevention? 

A: I hope that my research is informative for developing more effective obesity prevention efforts and interventions designed to manipulate eating behavior and energy intake based on appetitive traits.


03
Dec 15

Obesity Week 2015 Series: Samantha Kling

Several COPT fellows attended Obesity Week 2015, the Annual Meeting of the Obesity Society, in Los Angeles, California from November 2 – November 7, 2015. Each student gave us a recap and reflection on her experience. We will be featuring one student per post as part of this series.

Samantha Kling

Kling

Q: What was the title of your presentation?

A: At Obesity Week 2015, I presented a poster titled “Does milk portion size or energy density affect preschool children’s intake at a meal?”

Q: What were the main points of your presentation?

A: The abstract and poster featured results from my funded COPT Seed Grant proposal that investigated whether variations in milk portion size and ED affect meal intake. Using a 2-by-2 crossover design, we investigated the influence of changes in milk portion size and ED on 125 preschool (3- to 5-year-olds) children’s intake at a meal. Increasing milk portion size or energy density increased milk energy intake. In response to higher-ED milk, children, on average, decreased their food intake compared to when a meal included lower-ED milk. Thus, the change in milk ED did not influence total energy intake at the meal; however, differed by sex. This research suggests that serving larger portions can be used as a strategy to promote intake of nutrient-dense beverages such as milk. Children’s energy needs, however, should be considered when choosing the type of milk to serve, since the ability to adjust intake in response to variations in ED differs between children.

Q: What is something you learned while at Obesity Week 2015?

A: The results of this study indicate a need to investigate differences in sensory perception or parent-child interactions between young boys and girls. Indeed, the interaction between parenting practices and child behaviors was of particular interest at this year’s Obesity Week. Several researchers presented results from various interventions that focused on the relationship between parenting skills and child’s weight, feeding behaviors, physical activity, and sleeping. It seems differences between young boys and girls may need to be considered in these interventions, since my research indicates that boys’ are better at adjusting their intake in response to food cues than girls in an experimental setting. Likewise, Dr. Shari Barkin presented data on how physical activity patterns differ between preschool-aged boys and girls, which may suggest differences in socialization at a young age.

Q: How do you hope your general program of research will contribute to the field of obesity prevention? 

A: Investigating individual differences between preschool children would allow characterization of positive and negative caregivers behaviors related to feeding, physical activity, and sleeping, which could provide essential insight to improve interventions.


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