Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the prospective, potentially bidirectional association of aggressive behavior with BMI and body composition across childhood in three population-based cohorts.
METHODS: Repeated measures of aggression and BMI were available from the Generation R Study between ages 6 and 10 years (N = 3,974), the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) between ages 7 and 10 years (N = 10,328), and the Swedish Twin Study of Child and Adolescent Development (TCHAD) between ages 9 and 14 years (N = 1,462). In all samples, aggression was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist. Fat mass and fat-free mass were available in the Generation R Study. Associations were examined with cross-lagged modeling.
RESULTS: Aggressive behavior at baseline was associated with higher BMI at follow-up in the Generation R Study (β = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.00 to 0.04), in NTR (β = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.06), and in TCHAD (β = 0.03, 95% CI: -0.02 to 0.07). Aggressive behavior was prospectively associated with higher fat mass (β = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.05) but not fat-free mass. There was no evidence that BMI or body composition preceded aggressive behavior.
CONCLUSIONS: More aggressive behavior was prospectively associated with higher BMI and fat mass. This suggests that aggression contributes to the obesity problem, and future research should study whether these behavioral pathways to childhood obesity are modifiable.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 822-829 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Obesity |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2019 |
Funding
Funding agencies: This work was supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Program (2007-2013): Aggression in Children: Unravelling Gene-Environment Interplay to Inform Treatment and Intervention Strategies (ACTION; grant number 602768), the Dutch Diabetes Foundation (grant number 2013.81.1664 to PWJ), and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO; grant 016.VICI.170.200 to HT). The first phase of the Generation R Study was made possible by financial support from the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam; the Erasmus University, Rotterdam; and The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw). The Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) is supported by the NWO (NWO 480-04-004; ZonMw 912-10-020; NWO 480-15-001). The Swedish Twin Study of Child and Adolescent Development (TCHAD) is supported by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life, and Welfare and the Swedish Research Council. Disclosure: HL has served as a speaker for Eli Lilly and Shire and has received research grants from Shire, all outside the submitted work. The other authors declared no conflict of interest. Author contributions: IPMD, KB, and ZY conceptualized and designed the study, performed the statistical analyses, and drafted and revised the manuscript. IPMD and KB collected the data. SL, HL, PL, RG, CEMvB, MB, DIB, and MHJH coordinated and designed the study and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content. PWJ and HT conceptualized and designed the study, supervised data collection, coordinated and supervised the study, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content. *Ivonne P. M. Derks and Koen Bolhuis contributed equally to the manuscript. Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article. Received: 20 August 2018; Accepted: 21 December 2018; Published online 8 April 2019. doi:10.1002/oby.22419 This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of all children and parents, general practitioners, hospitals, midwives, and pharmacies involved with all three cohorts of the present study. The Generation R Study is conducted by the Erasmus Medical Center (Rotterdam) in close collaboration with the School of Law and Faculty of Social Sciences of Erasmus University, Rotterdam; the Rotterdam area Municipal Health Service; the Rotterdam Homecare Foundation; and the Stichting Trombosedienst & Artsenlaboratorium Rijnmond, Rotterdam.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Dutch Diabetes Foundation | 2013.81.1664 |
| European Union Seventh Framework Program | |
| Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development | |
| Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research | 016 |
| Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life, and Welfare | |
| Seventh Framework Programme | 602768 |
| ZonMw | 480-04-004, NWO 480-15-001, 912-10-020 |
| Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam | |
| Erasmus Medisch Centrum | |
| Diabetes Fonds | |
| Vetenskapsrådet |
Cohort Studies
- Netherlands Twin Register (NTR)
