How is "Fast Eater in Obese Population" encoded by the genome?
Do you describe yourself as a fast eater? In psychology, fast eaters tend to be ambitious, goal-oriented, and open to new experiences, but they may also tend to be impatient. Eating faster is also related to more energy intake, poor digestion, and lower satisfaction in terms of health.
The genetic variant in the CLOCK gene rs1801260 has been reported to be associated with late-night chronotype, increasing hormonal levels (leptin and ghrelin) that could trigger energy intake, especially at night which could contribute to an increase in BMI. However, data on the rs1801260 CLOCK gene polymorphism with eating behaviors, specifically in children, are lacking, especially in the Latin American population. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the association between the rs1801260 CLOCK gene polymorphism and eating behavior traits according to nutritional status in children.
In total, 256 boys and girls (8–14years old) were recruited (108 obese, 47 overweight, 101 normal weight) in this study. Eating behavior was measured using the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ), a 35-item questionnaire that evaluates eight subscales of eating behavior including slowness in eating (SE) which is the tendency to prolong the duration of mealtimes and satiety responsiveness (SR) which is a decrease in the feeling of hunger caused by the consumption of food. Mothers answered each item on a Likert-type scale with possible scores from 1 to 5, and then an average was taken. It was found that obese children having C allele showed significantly lower scores in the SR and SE dimensions, meaning that they habitually eat faster and less likely to feel satiety. However, the trend was not observed in this study's subset of normal weight and overweight children. In addition, C allele carriers are likely to have higher BMI than noncarriers. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Regarding the other anthropometric variables (waist circumference, height and weight) evaluated, there were no significant differences according to the CLOCK genotype.
This study reveals an association of dimensions related to satiety with this polymorphism in children, which had not been previously described. Additionally, it has been reported that alterations in circadian rhythm factors, such as sleep, are associated with an increased risk of developing obesity and other metabolic diseases in different age groups. It would be important in the future to conduct prospective or cohort studies in a larger and more diversified sample of children to better confirm these findings. If you would like to know more about this research, you can read the study;
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31888385/
Are you interested in learning more about your genetic tendency for fast eater in obese population? You can log in to your Genomelink TRAITS to see this new genetic trait.
