Description
- Abstract:
- Background Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of environmentally persistent chemicals, are obesogens. PFAS may impact obesity risk because they interact with endocrine circuits related to obesogenic eating behaviors and research is lacking in this area. Methods In 211 HOME Study participants (Cincinnati, OH; recruited 2003–2006), we measured PFAS concentrations in serum collected from mothers during pregnancy and children at delivery and ages 3, 8, and 12 years. Caregivers completed the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) at age 12 years, and we calculated food approach and food avoidance scores. Using quantile- based g-computation, we estimated associations between a mixture of four gestational PFAS and CEBQ scales. We identified high (N=76, 36%) and low (N=135, 64%) postnatal PFAS mixture exposure profiles using latent profile analysis. All analyses adjusted for sociodemographic and perinatal characteristics, adolescent physical activity, and pubertal status. We examined whether child sex or physical activity modified these associations. Results Overall, no association was observed for gestational PFAS mixture with food approach or food avoidance scores. When examining postnatal PFAS mixtures, children in the high PFAS group had similar food avoidance scores (ß:-0.15, 95% CI:-0.75, 0.46) and slightly higher food approach behavior scores (ß:0.47, 95% CI:-0.27, 1.23) compared with children in the low PFAS group. We found some evidence that the association of gestational (interaction p-value=0.28) and postnatal (interaction p-value=0.13) mixtures with eating behaviors was attenuated among children with higher physical activity scores. Sex did not alter the association between PFAS concentrations and eating behaviors. Conclusions Serum PFAS concentrations were not associated with adolescent eating behaviors in this cohort, suggesting that other mechanisms underlie associations between PFAS exposure and childhood obesity. The potential modifying effects of physical activity should be investigated in larger cohorts.
- Notes:
- Thesis (M. P. H.)--Brown University, 2024
Citation
Vasil, Taylor-Marie,
"Associations of pre- and post-natal PFAS exposure with childhood eating behaviors"
(2024).
Epidemiology Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:z8sg3uff/
