Eating Disorders, Undernutrition, Underweight
Conditions
Keywords
Genetics, Child, Eating behaviour, Tube feeding, Avoidant Restrictive food intake disorder
Brief summary
This is a pilot study of children attending the Glasgow feeding clinic (GFC) which looks after a range of children with severe feeding problems who commonly have low appetite and extreme thinness. The investigators want to find out if these children are more likely to carry genetic markers of thinness.
Detailed description
Thinness occurs as a result of undereating, but it is not always clear why an individual child has not eaten enough, or how to get them to eat more. There is a need to understand the child characteristics that predispose to undereating and the how these operate, in order to design more effective treatment and prevention programmes. The Glasgow feeding clinic (GFC) looks after a range of children with severe feeding problems who commonly have low appetite and extreme thinness. The investigators want to find out if these children are more likely to carry genetic markers of thinness. The investigators will invite up to 60 families to complete a standardised online questionnaire (ICFET) about their child's eating behaviour and collect a saliva sample from their child, sent by post. The investigators will identify how many genetic markers for thinness each carries and relate this to their ICFET appetite scores and existing growth measurements as well as their feeding history.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFeeding clinic
These children have all attended a multidisciplinary feeding clinic with severe food refusal and were commonly receiving tube feeding or supplement drinks. The clinic helps children progress onto a normal oral diet
Sponsors
University of Stirling
University of Glasgow
Study design
Observational model
CASE_ONLY
Time perspective
RETROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
1 Years to 16 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
All participants currently attending Glasgow Feeding Clinic or assessed there within the last 2 years. NB current ethical application is restricted to children aged 1-7 years, but the investigators plan to apply to extend that to age 16 years.
Exclusion criteria
Sample not to be collected with 2 weeks of any symptoms or recent contact with Covid 19
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Genotype risk score | Within 1-2 months of recruitment | This the number of risk polymorphisms present for each child ranges from 0-20. a high score suggests more thinness |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Eating behaviour score | At recruitment or up to 2 months before | Measure of appetite and food refusal assessed using standard questionnaire (International Complementary Feeding Evaluation Tool (ICFET) Score from 1-5, hihger score suggests greater avidity |
| Body mass index | Up to two years before genetic test | weight (kg)/Height (m) squared |
Countries
United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed