The Home Environment Shapes Emotional Eating

Child Dev. 2018 Jul;89(4):1423-1434. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12799. Epub 2017 Apr 25.

Abstract

Emotional overeating (EOE) is the tendency to eat more in response to negative emotions; its etiology in early life is unknown. We established the relative genetic and environmental influences on EOE in toddlerhood and early childhood. Data were from Gemini, a population-based cohort of 2,402 British twins born in 2007. EOE was measured using the "emotional overeating" scale of the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) at 16 months and 5 years. A longitudinal quantitative genetic model established that genetic influences on EOE were minimal; on the other hand, shared environmental influences explained most of the variance. EOE was moderately stable from 16 months to 5 years and continuing environmental factors shared by twin pairs at both ages explained the longitudinal association.

Publication types

  • Twin Study

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Child Behavior / physiology
  • Child, Preschool
  • Emotions*
  • Environment
  • Feeding Behavior / physiology
  • Feeding Behavior / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Prospective Studies
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Twins / genetics