Infant eating behavior is likely driven not only by hunger and satiety reflective of caloric need, but also by the reward value of food. The reward value of food can be understood in terms of wanting, liking, and salience. Little is understood about infant response to the reward value of food, or its predictors, particularly prenatally. This project sought to understand whether prenatal factors during pregnancy predict infant reward response to food, as measured by questionnaires in early infancy.
Healthy full-term infants were enrolled in a longitudinal study designed to examine the development of infant eating behavior. Infant weight and length was measured, mothers completed questionnaires regarding infant eating behaviors, and infants were weighed and length measured at ages 1, 2, 4, 6 and 10 months. Trajectories of eating behaviors were identified using latent class growth modeling and bivariate analyses examined associations of infant eating behavior trajectory membership with infant and maternal characteristics. Cross-lagged analyses examined associations between BEBQ subscales and infant weight-for-length z-score.
Harlan McCaffery, Julie Zaituna, Sophie Busch, Niko Kaciroti, Alison L. Miller, Julie C. Lumeng, Katherine L. Rosenblum, Ashley Gearhardt, Megan H. Pesch, Developmental trajectories of eating behaviors and cross-lagged associations with weight across infancy, Appetite, 2023, 106978
Healthy full-term infants were enrolled in a longitudinal study designed to examine the development of infant eating behavior. Infant weight and length was measured, mothers completed questionnaires regarding infant eating behaviors, and infant capacity for regulation of energy intake was evaluated by comparing intake between two days: one with feedings given on demand and one with feedings offered hourly. The infant's ability to downregulate intake in response to more frequent feedings was calculated.
Reynolds, L. A., McCaffery, H., Appugliese, D., Kaciroti, N. A., Miller, A. L., Rosenblum, K. L., ... & Lumeng, J. C. (2023). Capacity for Regulation of Energy Intake in Infancy. JAMA pediatrics, 177(6), 590-598.
Healthy full-term infants were enrolled in a longitudinal study designed to examine the development of infant eating behavior. Infant weight and length was measured, mothers completed questionnaires regarding infant eating behaviors, and infant sucking behavior was quantified using the NFANT device during a typical feeding. The predictive value of the NFANT-generated sucking metrics for infant weight gain was evaluated.
Feldman, Keith, Katharine Asta, Ashley N. Gearhardt, Julie M. Sturza, Danielle Appugliese, Alison L. Miller, Katherine Rosenblum, Kai Ling Kong, Amanda K. Crandall, and Julie C. Lumeng. "Characterization of a Vigorous sucking style in early infancy and its predictive value for weight gain and eating behaviors at 12 months." Appetite (2023): 106525.
