There is no consensus on whether cognitive control over food intake (that is, restrained eating) is helpful, merely ineffective or actually harmful in weight management. We examined the interplay ...between genetic risk of obesity, restrained eating and changes in body weight and size.
Participants were Finnish aged 25-74 years who attended the DIetary, Lifestyle and Genetic determinants of Obesity and Metabolic syndrome study at baseline in 2007 and follow-up in 2014. At baseline (n=5024), height, weight and waist circumference (WC) were measured in a health examination and participants self-reported their weight at age 20 years. At follow-up (n=3735), height, weight and WC were based on measured or self-reported information. We calculated 7-year change in body mass index (BMI) and WC and annual weight change from age 20 years to baseline. Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18 was used to assess restrained eating. Genetic risk of obesity was assessed by calculating a polygenic risk score of 97 known BMI-related loci.
Cross-lagged autoregressive models indicated that baseline restrained eating was unrelated to 7-year change in BMI (β=0.00; 95% confidence interval (CI)=-0.01, 0.02). Instead, higher baseline BMI predicted greater 7-year increases in restrained eating (β=0.08; 95% CI=0.05, 0.11). Similar results were obtained with WC. Polygenic risk score correlated positively with restrained eating and obesity indicators in both study phases, but it did not predict 7-year change in BMI or WC. However, individuals with higher genetic risk of obesity tended to gain more weight from age 20 years to baseline, and this association was more pronounced in unrestrained eaters than in restrained eaters (P=0.038 for interaction).
Our results suggest that restrained eating is a marker for previous weight gain rather than a factor that leads to future weight gain in middle-aged adults. Genetic influences on weight gain from early to middle adulthood may vary according to restrained eating, but this finding needs to be replicated in future studies.
Longitudinal studies have rarely investigated changes in depressive symptoms and indicators of obesity simultaneously, although it is often proposed that the positive relationship between depression ...and obesity is bidirectional. The present study examined the reciprocal nature of the relationship between depressive symptoms and body mass index (BMI) in a 20-year follow-up survey.
Participants of a Finnish cohort study in 1989 at 22 years (N=1656) were followed up at ages 32 (N=1262) and 42 (N=1155) with postal questionnaires. BMI was calculated on the basis of self-reported weight and height, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the short form of the Beck Depression Inventory. Latent growth models (LGM) and cross-lagged autoregressive models were used to determine prospective associations between depressive symptoms and BMI.
LGM analyses indicated that men with higher initial levels of depressive symptoms experienced a faster rate of increase in BMI (β=0.20, P<0.01). Among women, change in BMI or depressive symptoms was not predicted by the other construct, but initial levels of BMI and depressive symptoms as well as their rate of change correlated positively with each other (r=0.15 and 0.37, respectively). In cross-lagged models, depressive symptoms at age 32 predicted greater BMI at 42 (β=0.10, P<0.001) among men, whereas women with higher BMI at age 32 were more likely to have more depressive symptoms at 42 (β=0.08, P<0.05).
Elevated depressive symptoms predicted weight gain in men, while changes in depressive symptoms and body weight occurred concurrently in women. Tentative evidence showed that women with excess body weight were more likely to have increased symptoms of depression 10 years later. More emphasis should be placed on depressive symptoms in weight control programs as well as on reducing weight-based stigmatization and discrimination in society.
Genome-wide sequencing may generate secondary findings (SFs). It is recommended that validated, clinically actionable SFs are reported back to patients/research participants. To explore publics' ...perspectives on the best ways to do this, we performed a vignette study among Finnish adults. Our aim was to explore how lay people react to different types of hypothetical genomic SFs. Participants received a hypothetical letter revealing a SF predisposing to a severe but actionable disease-cardiovascular disease (familial hypercholesterolemia, long QT syndrome) or cancer (Lynch syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome). Participants (N = 29) wrote down their initial reactions, and discussed (N = 23) these in focus groups. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Reactions to hypothetical SFs varied according to perceived severity and familiarity of the diseases. SFs for cancer were perceived as more threatening than for cardiovascular diseases, but less distressing than risk for psychiatric or neurological disorders, which participants spontaneously brought up. Illness severity in terms of lived experience, availability of treatment, stigma, and individual's responsibility to control risk were perceived to vary across these disease types. In addition to clinical validity and utility, SF reporting practices need to take into account potential familiarity and lay illness representations of different diseases. Illness representations may influence willingness to receive SFs, and individuals' reactions to this information.
Genome‐wide sequencing may generate secondary findings (SFs). It is recommended that validated, clinically actionable SFs are reported back to patients/research participants. To explore publics’ ...perspectives on the best ways to do this, we performed a vignette study among Finnish adults. Our aim was to explore how lay people react to different types of hypothetical genomic SFs. Participants received a hypothetical letter revealing a SF predisposing to a severe but actionable disease—cardiovascular disease (familial hypercholesterolemia, long QT syndrome) or cancer (Lynch syndrome, Li–Fraumeni syndrome). Participants (N = 29) wrote down their initial reactions, and discussed (N = 23) these in focus groups. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Reactions to hypothetical SFs varied according to perceived severity and familiarity of the diseases. SFs for cancer were perceived as more threatening than for cardiovascular diseases, but less distressing than risk for psychiatric or neurological disorders, which participants spontaneously brought up. Illness severity in terms of lived experience, availability of treatment, stigma, and individual’s responsibility to control risk were perceived to vary across these disease types. In addition to clinical validity and utility, SF reporting practices need to take into account potential familiarity and lay illness representations of different diseases. Illness representations may influence willingness to receive SFs, and individuals’ reactions to this information.
•Body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) is a highly heritable and polygenic trait.•Heritability increases after early childhood and is highest in early adulthood.•Obesogenic micro- and macro-environments ...reinforce genetic variation.•Candidate genes of BMI express in brain tissue, suggesting the importance of behavior.•Emerging evidence suggests that genes can affect BMI through eating behavior traits.
Obesity has dramatically increased during the last decades and is currently one of the most serious global health problems. We present a hypothesis that obesity is a neuro-behavioral disease having a strong genetic background mediated largely by eating behavior and is sensitive to the macro-environment; we study this hypothesis from the perspective of genetic research. Genetic family and genome-wide-association studies have shown well that body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) is a highly heritable and polygenic trait. New genetic variation of BMI emerges after early childhood. Candidate genes of BMI notably express in brain tissue, supporting that this new variation is related to behavior. Obesogenic environments at both childhood family and societal levels reinforce the genetic susceptibility to obesity. Genetic factors have a clear influence on macro-nutrient intake and appetite-related eating behavior traits. Results on the gene-by-diet interactions in obesity are mixed, but emerging evidence suggests that eating behavior traits partly mediate the effect of genes on BMI. However, more rigorous prospective study designs controlling for measurement bias are still needed.
Lowered costs of genomic sequencing facilitate analyzing large segments of genetic data. Ethical debate has focused on whether and what kind of incidental or secondary findings (SFs) to report, and ...how to obtain valid informed consent. However, people’s support needs after receiving SFs have received less attention. We explored Finnish adults’ perspectives on reporting genetic SFs. In this qualitative study which included four focus group discussions (
N
= 23) we used four vignette letters, each reporting a genetic SF predisposing to a different disease: familial hypercholesterolemia, long QT syndrome, Lynch syndrome, and Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Transcribed focus group discussions were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Major themes were immediate shock, dealing with worry and heightened risk, fear of being left alone to deal with SFs, disclosing to family, and identified support needs. Despite their willingness to receive SFs, participants were concerned about being left alone to deal with them. Empathetic expert support and timely access to preventive care were seen as essential to coping with shock and worry, and disclosing SFs to family. Discussion around SFs needs to concern not only which findings to report, but also how healthcare systems need to prepare for providing timely access to preventive care and support for individuals and families.
the inverse association between high socioeconomic status and impaired cognitive functioning in old age has been widely studied. However, it is still inconclusive whether higher socioeconomic status ...slows the rate of cognitive decline over ageing, especially in non-Western populations. We examined this association using a large population-based longitudinal survey of older Chinese persons.
the sample came from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) (from the years 2002 to 2011, N = 15,798 at baseline, aged 65-105). The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) based on face-to-face interviews was used to assess cognitive functioning. Socioeconomic status was assessed using educational attainment and household income per capita. Latent growth curve and selection model considering the attrition during the follow-up were utilised to assess the effect of socioeconomic status on the rate of change in cognitive functioning.
at baseline, younger elderly people, urban residents and elderly people living alone had better cognitive performance in both genders. Educational attainment was positively associated with cognitive functioning at baseline but did not have a significant effect on the rate of change in cognitive functioning. Higher incomes were associated with better cognitive functioning at baseline, but this difference diminished during the follow-up.
higher socioeconomic status was associated with better cognitive performance at baseline but could not protect against the rate of decline in cognitive functioning measured by MMSE in this longitudinal study for elderly Chinese people.
Background: There is a need for a better understanding of the factors that influence long-term weight outcomes after bariatric surgery.Objective: We examined whether pretreatment and posttreatment ...levels of cognitive restraint, disinhibition, and hunger and 1-y changes in these eating behaviors predict short- and long-term weight changes after surgical and conventional treatments of severe obesity.Design: Participants were from an ongoing, matched (nonrandomized) prospective intervention trial of the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study. The current analyses included 2010 obese subjects who underwent bariatric surgery and 1916 contemporaneously matched obese controls who received conventional treatment. Physical measurements (e.g., weight and height) and questionnaires (e.g., Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire) were completed before the intervention and 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10 y after the start of the treatment. Structural equation modeling was used as the main analytic strategy.Results: The surgery group lost more weight and reported greater decreases in disinhibition and hunger at 1- and 10-y follow-ups (all P < 0.001 in both sexes) than the control group did. Pretreatment eating behaviors were unrelated to subsequent weight changes in surgically treated patients. However, patients who had lower levels of 6-mo and 1-y disinhibition and hunger (β = 0.13–0.29, P < 0.01 in men; β = 0.11–0.28, P < 0.001 in women) and experienced larger 1-y decreases in these behaviors (β = 0.31–0.48, P < 0.001 in men; β = 0.24–0.51, P < 0.001 in women) lost more weight 2, 6, and 10 y after surgery. In control patients, larger 1-y increases in cognitive restraint predicted a greater 2-y weight loss in both sexes.Conclusion: A higher tendency to eat in response to various internal and external cues shortly after surgery predicted less-successful short- and long-term weight outcomes, making postoperative susceptibility for uncontrolled eating an important indicator of targeted interventions. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01479452.
Social inequalities in coronary heart disease mortality have roots in childhood conditions, but it is unknown whether they are associated both with the incidence of the disease and the following ...survival. We studied how several different early-life socioeconomic factors, together with later socioeconomic attainment, were associated with myocardial infarction (MI) incidence and fatality in Finland. The data was based on a register-based sample of households from a census in 1950 that also provided information on childhood circumstances. MI hospitalizations and mortality in 1988–2010 were studied in those who were up to 14 years of age at the time of the census and resident in Finland in 1987 (n = 94,501). Parental education, occupation, household crowding, home ownership, and family type were examined together with adulthood education and income. Hazard and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using Cox regression (incidence and long-term fatality) and logistic regression (short-term fatality) models. Lower parental education, occupational background and greater household crowding were associated with MI incidence. In models adjusted for adulthood variables, crowding increased the risk by 16% (95% CI 5–29%) in men and 25% (95% CI 3–50%) in women. Short-term survival was more favourable in sons of white-collar parents and daughters of owner-occupied households, but most aspects of childhood circumstances did not strongly influence long-term fatality risk. Socioeconomic attainment in adulthood accounted for a substantial part of the effects of childhood conditions, but the measured childhood factors explained little of the disparities by adulthood education and income. Moreover, income and education remained associated with MI incidence when adjusted for unobserved shared family factors in siblings. Though social and economic development in society seems to have mitigated the disease burden associated with poor childhood living conditions in Finland, low adult socioeconomic resources have remained a strong determinant of MI incidence and fatality.
•Census data for early-life characteristics lack problems of self-recall.•Moderate association of childhood circumstances with MI in Finnish ageing cohorts.•Adult SEP predicts incidence after controls for shared family factors in siblings.•MI fatality risk associated with low income not explained by measured early-life factors.
We aimed to assess the longitudinal associations of socioeconomic status and physical functioning using a large population-based survey data in China.
We used four waves of the Chinese Longitudinal ...Healthy Longevity Survey (2002-2011). Physical functioning was assessed by activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) measures. Socioeconomic status was assessed using educational attainment, occupational status, household income, financial resources, and access to health services. Latent growth curve model combined with selection model was utilized.
High education was not associated with the baseline level or the rate of change in ADL score but predicted better baseline IADL functioning. High income was related to better IADL functioning but had no effect on the rate of change in IADL. Inadequate financial resources and unavailability of health services were mainly associated with poorer ADL and IADL functioning at baseline. White-collar occupation was unrelated to the trajectory of physical functioning.
This study provides no support either for the cumulative disadvantage or age-as-leveler theory. Improving financial status and accessibility of health care services, especially in lower social classes, may help to improve the overall level of physical functioning of the older adults.
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