scholarly journals Parental feeding and childhood genetic risk for obesity: Exploring hypothetical interventions with causal inference methods

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Herle ◽  
Andrew Pickles ◽  
Nadia Micali ◽  
Mohamed Abdulkadir ◽  
Bianca De Stavola
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Feeding Behaviors ◽  
Genetic Liability ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Parental Feeding ◽  
Feeding Interventions

Parental feeding behaviors are common intervention targets for childhood obesity, but often only deliver small changes. Childhood BMI is partly driven by genetic effects, and the extent to which parental feeding interventions can mediate child genetic liability is not known. Here we aim to examine how potential interventions on parental feeding behaviors can mitigate some of the association between child genetic liability and BMI in early adolescence, using causal inference based methods. Data were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and we quantified the interventional disparity measure of child genetic risk for BMI (PRS-BMI) on objectively BMI at 12 years, if we were to intervene on parental feeding styles measured when children were 10-11 years (n=4,248). Results are presented as Adjusted Total Association (Adj-Ta) between genetic liability and BMI at 12 years, versus the Interventional Disparity Measure Direct Effect (IDM-DE), which represents the association, that would remain, had we intervened on the parental feeding. For children with the top quintile of genetic liability, an intervention shifting parental feeding to the levels of children with lowest genetic risk, resulted in a difference of 0.81 kg/m2 in BMI at 12y (Adj-Ta= 3.27, 95%CI: 3.04, 3.49; versus IDM-DE=2.46, 95%CI: 2.24, 2.67). Findings suggest that parental feeding interventions have the potential to buffer some of the genetic liability for childhood obesity. Further, we highlight a novel way to analyze potential interventions for health conditions only using secondary data analyses, by combining methodology from statistical genetics and social epidemiology.

Associations Between Parent–Child Communication and Connectedness, Parent Feeding Behavior, and Child Body Mass in Pre-Adolescent Children

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina D Lowe ◽  
Mark A Lott ◽  
Chad D Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Weight Status ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Feeding Behaviors ◽  
Parent Child Communication ◽  
Parental Feeding ◽  
Parent Feeding ◽  
Parent Child

Abstract Objective  This study evaluated associations between parent–child connectedness and communication, parent feeding behaviors (restriction, pressure to eat, and monitoring), and age- and sex-standardized child body mass index (zBMI) in a sample of pre-adolescent children aged 8–12 years. Methods  A community sample of three hundred and eight child–parent dyads completed measures of communication and connectedness. Parents completed a feeding behavior measure and children were weighed and their height was measured. We examined whether parental feeding behaviors and parent–child communication and connectedness predicted child zBMI and whether parental feeding behaviors moderated the association between parent–child communication and connectedness and child zBMI. Results  Feeding restriction was positively associated with zBMI, while both pressure to eat and food monitoring exhibited negative associations with zBMI. Child-reported communication was inversely associated with zBMI and parental pressure to eat moderated this association such that lower pressure to eat predicted a stronger association between communication and zBMI. Conclusions  These findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that parent feeding strategies and parent–child communication are important contributors to child weight status. This study also provides preliminary evidence suggesting that adaptive parent–child communication is associated with lower body mass when parents avoid pressuring their child to eat. Our study provides an important extension of this body of research into middle childhood, a relatively understudied developmental stage.

scholarly journals Media and Communication Strategies Supporting Parents and Children in COVID-19 Pandemic Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-177
Author(s):  
Mihaela Racheva
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Emotional Problems ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media And Communication

The article addresses the social and emotional problems of children and students during the isolation that transformed the lives of children, parents, and society. Emphasis is placed on the need to support parents and train them in skills that will be useful in the fight against childhood obesity in Bulgaria (based on media and communication strategies) in the context of the COVID-19.

Complex systems models for causal inference in social epidemiology

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. 702-708
Author(s):  
Hiba N Kouser ◽  
Ruby Barnard-Mayers ◽  
Eleanor Murray
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Natural Choice ◽  
Systems Models ◽  
Multi Level

Systems models, which by design aim to capture multi-level complexity, are a natural choice of tool for bridging the divide between social epidemiology and causal inference. In this commentary, we discuss the potential uses of complex systems models for improving our understanding of quantitative causal effects in social epidemiology. To put systems models in context, we will describe how this approach could be used to optimise the distribution of COVID-19 response resources to minimise social inequalities during and after the pandemic.

scholarly journals Commentary: Causal Inference for Social Exposures

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay S. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Observational Study ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Cost

Social epidemiology seeks to describe and quantify the causal effects of social institutions, interactions, and structures on human health. To accomplish this task, we define exposures as treatments and posit populations exposed or unexposed to these well-defined regimens. This inferential structure allows us to unambiguously estimate and interpret quantitative causal parameters and to investigate how these may be affected by biases such as confounding. This paradigm has been challenged recently by some critics who favor broadening the exposures that may be studied beyond treatments to also consider states. Defining the exposure protocol of an observational study is a continuum of specificity, and one may choose to loosen this definition, incurring the cost of causal parameters that become commensurately more vague. The advantages and disadvantages of broader versus narrower definitions of exposure are matters of continuing debate in social epidemiology as in other branches of epidemiology.

scholarly journals Introduction to the Symposium: Causal Inference and Public Health

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison E. Aiello ◽  
Lawrence W. Green
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Health Research ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Internal And External Validity

Assessing the extent to which public health research findings can be causally interpreted continues to be a critical endeavor. In this symposium, we invited several researchers to review issues related to causal inference in social epidemiology and environmental science and to discuss the importance of external validity in public health. Together, this set of articles provides an integral overview of the strengths and limitations of applying causal inference frameworks and related approaches to a variety of public health problems, for both internal and external validity.

scholarly journals Invited Commentary: What Social Epidemiology Brings to the Table—Reconciling Social Epidemiology and Causal Inference

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney R Robinson ◽  
Zinzi D Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inference ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Methodological Challenges ◽  
Scientific Goal ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract In response to the Galea and Hernán article, “Win-Win: Reconciling Social Epidemiology and Causal Inference” (Am J Epidemiol. 2020;189(XX):XXXX–XXXX), we offer a definition of social epidemiology. We then argue that methodological challenges most salient to social epidemiology have not been adequately addressed in quantitative causal inference, that identifying causes is a worthy scientific goal, and that quantitative causal inference can learn from social epidemiology’s methodological innovations. Finally, we make 3 recommendations for quantitative causal inference.

scholarly journals A core outcome set for trials of infant-feeding interventions to prevent childhood obesity

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 2035-2043
Author(s):  
Karen Matvienko-Sikar ◽  
Ciara Griffin ◽  
Colette Kelly ◽  
Caroline Heary ◽  
Majken Lillholm Pico Pedersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Infant Feeding ◽  
Core Outcome Set ◽  
Core Outcome ◽  
Outcome Set ◽  
Feeding Interventions

scholarly journals Invited Commentary: Making Causal Inference More Social and (Social) Epidemiology More Causal

2019 ◽  
Vol 189 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-182
Author(s):  
John W Jackson ◽  
Onyebuchi A Arah
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inference ◽  
Causal Reasoning ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Systems Science ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Effect Estimation ◽  
Inference Methods

Abstract A society’s social structure and the interactions of its members determine when key drivers of health occur, for how long they last, and how they operate. Yet, it has been unclear whether causal inference methods can help us find meaningful interventions on these fundamental social drivers of health. Galea and Hernán propose we place hypothetical interventions on a spectrum and estimate their effects by emulating trials, either through individual-level data analysis or systems science modeling (Am J Epidemiol. 2020;189(3):167–170). In this commentary, by way of example in health disparities research, we probe this “closer engagement of social epidemiology with formal causal inference approaches.” The formidable, but not insurmountable, tensions call for causal reasoning and effect estimation in social epidemiology that should always be enveloped by a thorough understanding of how systems and the social exposome shape risk factor and health distributions. We argue that one way toward progress is a true partnership of social epidemiology and causal inference with bilateral feedback aimed at integrating social epidemiologic theory, causal identification and modeling methods, systems thinking, and improved study design and data. To produce consequential work, we must make social epidemiology more causal and causal inference more social.

scholarly journals FAMILY RESILIENCE IN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE (A CASE STUDY OF PARENT AND CHILD INTERACTION BEHAVIOR IN THE DISTRICT OF SOMBA OPU GOWA)

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Abd Rahman R
Keyword(s):  
Foster Children ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Family Resilience ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Interaction Behavior ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
The Family ◽  
Mother And Child ◽  
Inductive Methods ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive

This paper discusses the interaction behavior of parents and children, facing problems in carrying out the duties and roles of the child's parents as the person in charge and the first teacher of understanding and practicing children's religiosity. This paper aims to find and describe the interaction patterns of children's parents, constraints and challenges in carrying out their duties as the first teacher in the family and effective efforts to foster children in the family. This paper is qualitative descriptive, with deductive-inductive methods. Data relying on primary sources through observation and interviews, and is complemented by secondary data obtained from literature. This paper shows the relationship between interaction behavior, the position of father and mother and child with family resilience through internalization of religious norms and values, understanding and practicing the teachings of the faith, praying five times a day, and noble morals. Parent and child interactions are temporal in nature, depending on the conditions of parents and children in the process of interaction in the family. The routine and personality activities of parents who are competent in understanding Islam are relatively constraints and challenges in the interaction between parents and children in carrying out their functions, the role of being the first teacher in the family. This paper is an indicator and motivator that encourage family life to foster children in understanding and practicing the principles of Islam. Keywords: Family resilience, behavior, interaction, parents of children, Islam.تناقش هذه الورقة السلوك التفاعلي بين الوالدين والأطفال، حيث يواجهون مشاكل في أداء واجبات وأدوار والدي الطفل بصفته الشخص المسؤول والمعلم الأول لفهم تدين الأطفال وممارسته. تهدف هذه الورقة إلى إيجاد ووصف أنماط التفاعل بين أولياء أمور الأطفال، والقيود والتحديات في أداء واجباتهم كأول معلم في الأسرة والجهود الفعالة لرعاية الأطفال في الأسرة. هذه الورقة وصفية نوعية، مع الأساليب الاستنتاجية الاستقرائية ، والبيانات التي تعتمد على المصادر الأولية من خلال الملاحظة والمقابلات وتكملها البيانات الثانوية التي تم الحصول عليها من الأدب. توضح هذه الورقة العلاقة بين السلوك التفاعلي، وموقع الأب والأم والطفل في المرونة الأسرية من خلال استيعاب الأعراف والقيم الدينية، وفهم وممارسة تعاليم الدين، والصلاة خمس مرات في اليوم، والأخلاق النبيلة. تفاعلات الوالدين والطفل مؤقتة بطبيعتها ، حسب ظروف الوالدين والأطفال في عملية التفاعل في الأسرة. تعتبر الأنشطة الروتينية والشخصية للآباء المؤهلين في فهم الإسلام قيودًا وتحديات نسبية في التفاعل بين الآباء والأطفال في أداء وظائفهم، ودور كونهم المعلم الأول في الأسرة. تعتبر هذه الورقة مؤشرا ومحفزا يشجع الحياة الأسرية لتنشئة الأبناء على فهم مبادئ الإسلام وممارستها.Tulisan ini membahas tentang perilaku interaksi orang tua dan anak, menghadapi problema dalam menjalankan tugas dan peran orang tua anak sebagai penanggung jawab dan guru pertama terhadap pemahaman dan pengamalan relegiutas anak. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk menemukan dan mendeskripsikan  pola interaksi orang tua anak, kendala dan tantangan dalam mengemban tugasnya sebagai guru pertama dalam keluarga serta upaya yang efektif pembinaan anak-anak dalam keluarga. Tulisan ini bersifat deskriftif kualitatif, dengan metode deduktif-induktif, data disandarkan kepada sumber primer melalui observasi, wawancara dan dilengkapi oleh data sekunder yang diperoleh dari leteratur. Tulisan ini menunjukkan kaitan perilaku interaksi, posisi ayah dan ibu serta anak dengan ketahanan keluarga melalui internalisasi norma dan nilai agama, pemahaman dan pengamalan ajaran akidah, salat lima waktu, serta akhlak mulia. Interaksi orang tua dan anak bersifat temporal, tergantung pada kondisi orang tua dan anak dalam proses interaksi dalam keluarga. Kesibukan rutinitas dan kepribadian` orang tua yang bersifat kompetensi pemahaman terhadap Islam relative menjadi faktor kendala dan tantangan dalam interaksi orang tua dan anak dalam menjalankan  fungsi, peran sebagai guru pertama dalam keluarga. Tulisan ini menjadi indikator dan motivator yang mendorong kehidupan keluarga untuk pembinaan anak-anak dalam pemahaman dan pengamalan ajaran-ajaran prinsip dalam Islam.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document