Familial aggregation of energy intake in children.

Background: Uncompensated overnutrition promotes obesity, but the controls of children's eating behavior are poorly understood. Insights may be achieved by testing whether the eating patterns of children are associated with demographic variables or whether they aggregate among family members.

Objective: We tested whether children's total energy intake and macronutrient intake and their ability to compensate for earlier energy intake were associated with sociodemographic variables and anthropometric indexes.

Project Grow-2-Gether: a study of the genetic and environmental influences on child eating and obesity.

"Project Grow-2-Gether" is a child nutrition study of same-sex, 3- to 7-year-old monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. The study attempts to bridge two bodies of literature that have rarely interfaced with respect to obesity and ingestive behavior: the first being behavioral genetic approaches to obesity-related traits, and the second being developmental approaches focusing on parent-child relationships. The overarching aim of Project Grow-2-Gether is to disentangle genetic from potential home-environmental influences on child eating behavior and body fat.

Genetics of eating and its relation to obesity.

Humans show remarkable variability in their eating styles. Reasons for this variability are poorly understood, but carry important implications for the onset of obesity and its comorbidities. Although it is well established that genes influence obesity, genetic influences on human eating patterns have received less attention.