Interaction Between Genetic Risk and Parental Feeding Practices in the Prediction of Overweight Across Adolescence

We examined whether genetic risk for higher BMI, parental feeding practices (restriction, pressure to eat, and monitoring), and their interactions were associated with overweight trajectories during adolescence.

Data came from 5568 participants aged 10-18 in the Twins' Early Development Study who had at least one measurement of weight. Parental feeding practices were reported at age 10 using the Child Feeding Questionnaire. A polygenic score for BMI was used as a proxy for genetic risk. We identified overweight trajectories using latent class growth analysis, and associations with genetic risk, feeding practices, and their interactions were tested using multinomial logistic regression with trajectory as the outcome.

Three trajectories were identified: non-overweight, persistent overweight, and adolescent-onset overweight. Higher genetic risk and greater parental restriction and monitoring were associated with persistent overweight, whereas pressure to eat was associated with non-overweight. Associations remained after adjustment for general parenting and additional risk factors. We found no evidence for gene-environment interaction.

Genetic risk and parental feeding practices were independently associated with adolescent weight development. While this suggests feeding practices may be relevant targets for prevention, the findings likely represent complex bidirectional parent-child dynamics.