Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Infant temperament and eating style predict change in standardized weight status and obesity risk at 6 years of age

M S Faith1, J B Hittner

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA. mfaith@mail.med.upenn.edu

International Journal of Obesity (2005)
|September 1, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Infant temperament influences childhood obesity risk. Boys with less attention and girls with higher soothability or negative food reactions showed increased weight gain and obesity by age 6.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric obesity research
  • Infant development and behavior
  • Childhood health and nutrition

Background:

  • Limited research exists on the interplay between infant temperament, eating habits, and the development of obesity.
  • Understanding these early-life factors is crucial for identifying potential intervention points for pediatric obesity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between infant temperament and eating patterns at 1 year of age with changes in standardized weight status and obesity risk at 6 years of age.
  • To explore sex-specific relationships between infant characteristics and later obesity development.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective analysis of the Colorado Adoption Study involving 262 boys and 225 girls assessed from ages 1 to 6 years.
  • Key predictors included infant temperament (emotionality, activity, attention span-persistence, reaction to food, soothability) and eating behaviors (reactivity to food, appetite predictability, mealtime distractibility) at 1 year.
  • Outcomes included standardized weight status (z-scores, percentiles) and overweight/obesity status calculated annually up to age 6.

Main Results:

  • In boys, greater attention span-persistence was linked to reduced weight status gain and lower obesity risk.
  • In girls, higher soothability and negative reactions to food were associated with increased weight status gain and higher obesity risk.
  • Maternal obesity status was a significant predictor of obesity risk in both boys and girls.

Conclusions:

  • Infant temperament plays a role in pediatric obesity onset, with specific traits correlating with increased risk in a sex-dependent manner.
  • Male infants with shorter attention spans and female infants with higher soothability or negative food reactions are at greater risk for overweight/obesity.
  • Further research into infant temperament's role in pediatric obesity is warranted.
Abstract

More Related Videos

Fat Preference: A Novel Model of Eating Behavior in Rats05:57

Fat Preference: A Novel Model of Eating Behavior in Rats

Published on: June 27, 2014

Concurrent Collection of Fetal Murine Brain and Serum to Assess Effects of Maternal Diet on Nutrition and Neurodevelopment in Neurofibromatosis Type 105:44

Concurrent Collection of Fetal Murine Brain and Serum to Assess Effects of Maternal Diet on Nutrition and Neurodevelopment in Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Published on: May 17, 2024

Related Concept Videos

Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Anatomy of the Intestines01:23

Anatomy of the Intestines

Although digestion of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids may begin in the stomach, it is completed in the intestine. The absorption of nutrients, water, and electrolytes from food and drink also occurs in the intestine. The intestines can be divided into two structurally distinct organs—the small and large intestines.
Small Intestines
The small intestine is an ~7 meter-long tube with an inner diameter of just 2.5 cm. Since most nutrients are absorbed here, the inner lining of the small...
Regression Toward the Mean01:52

Regression Toward the Mean

Regression toward the mean (“RTM”) is a phenomenon in which extremely high or low values—for example, and individual’s blood pressure at a particular moment—appear closer to a group’s average upon remeasuring. Although this statistical peculiarity is the result of random error and chance, it has been problematic across various medical, scientific, financial and psychological applications. In particular, RTM, if not taken into account, can interfere when researchers try to extrapolate results...
Obesity01:24

Obesity

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a numerical value derived from a person's weight and height, used to categorize individuals into weight ranges. It is calculated using the formula: weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Obesity is a health condition characterized by excessive accumulation of adipose tissue that poses health risks, often diagnosed with a BMI ≥ 30. This excess fat storage occurs when surplus dietary calories are converted into triglycerides and stored in adipocytes...
Nature and Nurture01:10

Nature and Nurture

Many human characteristics, like height, are shaped by both nature—in other words, by our genes—and by nurture, or our environment. For example, chronic stress during childhood inhibits the production of growth hormones and consequently reduces bone growth and height. Scientists estimate that 70-90% of variation in height is due to genetic differences among individuals, and 10-30% of variation in height is due to differences in the environments that individuals experience, such as differences...