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Child-feeding practices in children with down syndrome and their siblings

Kristen L O'Neill1, Justine Shults, Virginia A Stallings

  • 1Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, 19104, USA.

The Journal of Pediatrics
|February 4, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Children with Down syndrome (DS) have higher BMI Z-scores and different feeding practices than their siblings. Parental concern about weight is linked to higher BMI Z-scores in children with DS.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric endocrinology
  • Genetics and human development
  • Nutritional science

Background:

  • Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at increased risk for obesity.
  • Parental feeding practices are known to influence child weight status.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare parental feeding practices between children with Down syndrome (DS) and their unaffected siblings.
  • To examine the relationship between feeding practices and weight status (BMI Z-score) in children with DS.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study of 36 sibling pairs (ages 3-10), with one child having DS.
  • Parents completed the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) for each child.
  • Objective measurements of height and weight to calculate BMI Z-scores (BMIZ).

Main Results:

  • Children with DS had significantly higher mean BMIZ compared to siblings (1.1 vs 0.1, P <.001).
  • Parents reported greater restriction and concern about weight for children with DS, but lower pressure to eat.
  • Parental concern about child weight was positively associated with BMIZ, even after adjustment.

Conclusions:

  • Parental feeding practices, particularly concern about weight, may contribute to the higher prevalence of obesity in children with Down syndrome.
  • Targeting feeding behaviors could be a strategy to manage weight in this population.
Abstract

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