Overview

Gene–Microbiome–Environment Interactions: Multi-Level Effects on Children's Self-Regulation, Parental Responsive Feeding, and Family Relationships around Mealtimes

Building upon the STRONG Kids research program, this project sought to understand how genetics, the gut microbiome, and the environment interact in affecting children’s self-regulation, parental feeding practices, and family relationships around the dinner table. Picky eating behaviors are prevalent among toddlers and are associated with risk of both underweight and overweight, depression, social anxiety, and eating disorders. These behaviors can be a major source of concern and distress among parents who may use controlling feeding practices, such as restriction and pressure to eat, in an attempt to change their child’s food intake instead of responsive feeding practices—methods that facilitate development of the child’s recognition of their hunger and satiety cues and promotes energy self-regulation. However, little is known about the benefits of responsive feeding on promoting the development of healthy eating behaviors in children as they transition to table foods, and the impact of responsive feeding on moderating children’s picky eating behaviors has yet to be determined. Nor has the interaction between the child’s genetics and parent feeding strategies been assessed.

Additionally, researchers have long recognized that the capacity to self-regulate attention, emotion, and behavior is crucial for healthy development. It is also understood that child temperament, attachment relationships, and family routines contribute to these processes across early childhood. As such, it is important to document the interplay between these emerging processes, the gut microbiome, and genetics so that we can more fully understand how influences at biological and interpersonal levels impact parental feeding and child eating behaviors.

This project identified associations between genetic makeup and picky eating behaviors in children at 12, 18, and 24 months. It also determined the effects of the genetic composition and observed parental feeding responsiveness in the prediction of children’s picky eating behaviors at 24 months, with the long-term goal of defining how nature (genetic composition) and nurture (feeding environment) interact to influence the eating behaviors in young children.

Finally, researchers examined the extent to which individual (child temperament, gut microbiome), relational (parent-child attachment relationships), and family-level factors (mealtime interactions) predicted children’s emerging eating behaviors and self-regulatory behaviors across childhood. These data helped build a more comprehensive understanding of pediatric obesity that has informed prevention and intervention programs with young children and families.

Research Team

• Sharon Donovan, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, RD, Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences
• Kelly Bost, Ph.D., Professor, Principal Investigator, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
• Margarita Teran-Garcia, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences
• Barbara Fiese, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Family Resiliency Center Director, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
• Soo-Yeun Lee, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
• Jaclyn Saltzman, MPH, Lead Epidemiologist and Public Health Scientist, MITRE
• Natasha Chong Cole, MPH, Nutrition Analyst, Panum Group
• Alyssa Parsons, Graduate Group Coordinator; Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Contacts
Sharon Donovan: 217-333-2289; sdonovan@illinois.edu
Kelly Bost: 217-244-6673; kbost@illinois.edu

Funding

 This project was supported through the Christopher Family Foundation Food and Family Program.