Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), Bethesda, MD, USA.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2013 Oct;37(10):1322-7. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2013.87. Epub 2013 May 24.
Providing personalized genetic-risk feedback of a child's susceptibility to adult-onset health conditions is a topic of considerable debate. Family health history (FHH), specifically parental overweight/obesity status, is a useful assessment for evaluating a child's genetic and environmental risk of becoming obese. It is unclear whether such risk information may influence parents' efforts to reduce their child's risk of obesity.
To evaluate whether telling mothers the magnitude of their child's risk of becoming obese based on personal FHH influenced food choices for their young child from a virtual reality-based buffet restaurant.
Overweight/obese mothers of a child aged 4-5 years who met eligibility criteria (N=221) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental arms, which emphasized different health information: arm 1, food safety control (Control); arm 2, behavioral-risk information (BRI) alone or arm 3, behavioral-risk information plus personal FHH-based risk assessment (BRI+FHH). Mothers donned a head-mounted display to be immersed in a virtual restaurant buffet, where they selected virtual food and beverages as a lunch for their child.
Mothers who were randomized to BRI+FHH filled the index child's plate with an average of 45 fewer calories than those in the Control arm (P<0.05); those in the BRI arm filled the plate with 35 fewer calories than the Control arm, a non-significant difference. Calorie restriction was greatest among mothers in the BRI+FHH arm who received the weaker-risk message (that is, only one overweight parent).
The influence of communicating a child's inherited risk of obesity on mothers' feeding practices may vary by the risk level conveyed. High-risk messages may best be coupled with strategies to increase mother's perceptions that efforts can be undertaken to reduce risk and build requisite behavioral skills to reduce risk.
提供儿童对成人发病健康状况易感性的个性化遗传风险反馈是一个备受争议的话题。家族健康史（FHH），特别是父母超重/肥胖状况，是评估儿童肥胖遗传和环境风险的有用评估方法。目前尚不清楚这种风险信息是否会影响父母努力降低孩子肥胖的风险。
评估基于个人 FHH 告知母亲孩子肥胖风险的程度是否会影响其为年幼孩子从基于虚拟现实的自助餐厅选择食物。
符合入选标准（N=221）的超重/肥胖儿童的母亲被随机分配到三个实验组之一，这三个实验组强调不同的健康信息：实验组 1，食品安全控制（Control）；实验组 2，行为风险信息（BRI）；实验组 3，行为风险信息加基于个人 FHH 的风险评估（BRI+FHH）。母亲戴上头戴式显示器，沉浸在虚拟餐厅自助餐中，为孩子选择虚拟食物和饮料作为午餐。
随机分配到 BRI+FHH 组的母亲为孩子的盘子中装入的平均卡路里比对照组少 45 卡路里（P<0.05）；BRI 组的母亲装入盘子的卡路里比对照组少 35 卡路里，差异无统计学意义。在 BRI+FHH 组中，收到较弱风险信息（即只有一位超重父母）的母亲对孩子的卡路里限制最大。
传达儿童肥胖遗传风险对母亲喂养行为的影响可能因传达的风险水平而异。高风险信息最好与增加母亲的认知策略相结合，即可以采取措施降低风险，并培养必要的行为技能来降低风险。
