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The role of maternal BMI on brain food cue reactivity in children: a preliminary study
Shan Luo1,2,3,4, Brendan Angelo5,6, Ting Chow7
1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA. shanluo@usc.edu.
Insights
Maternal obesity may impact children's brain responses to food cues, potentially influencing eating behaviors and obesity risk. This study found maternal BMI inversely associated with children's brain reactivity in self-regulation areas after glucose ingestion.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
Background:
- Parental obesity is a risk factor for childhood obesity.
- Neural mechanisms linking parental obesity to child eating behaviors are not well understood.
- Self-regulation of food intake involves specific brain systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between maternal body mass index (BMI) and children's brain responses to food cues.
- To explore neural mechanisms of self-regulation in children at risk for obesity.
Main Methods:
- Seventy-six children viewed food and non-food images during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after glucose ingestion.
- Region-of-interest (ROI) analyses focused on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).
- Maternal and child BMI, and child BMIz were calculated; analyses adjusted for child age and sex.
Main Results:
- Maternal BMI was inversely associated with children's ACC and dlPFC reactivity to food cues post-ingestion.
- No significant association was found between paternal BMI and children's food cue reactivity.
- Child BMIz was negatively associated with ACC food cue reactivity after glucose ingestion.
Conclusions:
- Maternal adiposity influences children's neural responses within brain self-regulation circuitry.
- These findings suggest a potential pathway through which maternal obesity may affect child eating behavior and obesity risk.
- Targeting maternal factors may be crucial for preventing childhood obesity.
Abstract:
Children of overweight and obese parents have an increased risk of obesity. Little is known the neural mechanisms underlying this relationship, specifically the brain systems implicated in self-regulation of food intake. The primary goal here is to examine relationships between maternal body mass index (BMI) and brain responses to food cues in children. Seventy-six children (8.62 ± 1.02 years; 28 M,48F) were included in this study. Height and weight were assessed for children and their biological parents. Maternal height and weight before pregnancy were extracted from the Electronic Medical Records (EMR). BMI (kg/m2) or BMIz (age- and sex-specific BMI) were calculated. Children underwent a magnetic resonance imaging session where they viewed food and non-food images before and after glucose ingestion. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) food cue reactivity was the measurement of interest for region-of-interest (ROI) analyses. Whole-brain exploratory analysis was performed as well. Non-parametric methods were used for data analysis. ROI and whole brain analyses showed that maternal current BMI was inversely associated with child's ACC and dlPFC food cue reactivity after glucose ingestion, adjusting for age and sex. No significant relationships were found between paternal BMI and child's food cue reactivity. Child BMIz was negatively associated with the ACC food cue reactivity after glucose ingestion. Our results supported the role of maternal adiposity on child's responses to appetitive food cues in brain self-regulation circuitry, which may influence eating behavior and obesity risk in children.
