Page 79 - The prevalence of the Val66Met polymorphism in musicians: Possible evidence for compensatory neuroplasticity from a pilot study

2 | M. R. Zandoná et al. 2012. There were 715 women recruited during the

moment, nine GWAS had been published (4–12), and
ORIGINALRESEARCH displayed significant signals in a higher number of eight district areas of the city of Porto Alegre, capital
third trimester of pregnancy at health centres in the
their results were compared. The 10 variants that
of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This city
GWAS were selected for this study.
Although associations of many common genetic var-
has currently about 1400 000 inhabitants and is
about 40km apart from São Leopoldo. The interven-
iants with obesity have been replicated mainly in
tion consisted of an update to the ‘10 steps to
European and Asian populations, until now, few studies
reporting the association of genetic variants with the risk
healthy eating for children younger than 2 years’ (14)
guide for all professionals working in the selected
of common obesity have been performed in South
American children. In this study, we evaluated the influ-
health centres, in addition to providing educational
ence of the most replicated genetic variants related
materials based on the food guide, to be delivered
to obesity previously identified through GWAS:
melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R), transmembrane
HIV-positive women were excluded from the study.
protein 18 (TMEM18), brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Subsequent phases of data collection happened at
(BDNF), potassium channel tetramerization domain to all mothers undergoing prenatal and child care.
the ages of 1 year and 3.2 years.
containing 15 (KCTD15), neuronal growth regulator 1 The intervention was not the primary objective of
(NEGR1), Src-homology-2 B adaptor protein 1 the present research, and the participation in
(SH2B1), homolog of S. cerevisiae Sec16 (SEC16B), intervention/control group was used as confounding
olfactomedin 4 (OLFM4) and homeobox B5 (HOXB5) factor in statistical analyses.
on anthropometric and food intake parameters in two
cohorts totaling 745 Brazilian children followed-up since Dietary and anthropometric data
birth. Our aim was to validate the role of these obesity collection
loci in Brazilian children and to identify at which age
the genetic effect starts to manifest on the phenotype. Fruits, vegetables and lipid-dense and sugar-dense
foods consumption was assessed through dietary
Methods recalls for both cohorts. Structured questionnaires
and two 24-h recalls were applied at each stage with
The study included children from two birth cohorts
the mother or primary caregiver. The 24-h recalls
from different cities in southern Brazil.
were performed on two nonconsecutive days, irre-
spective of the day of the week, and the mean values
São Leopoldo cohort were used in the analyses.
At 1year of age, children were weighed naked
This was a cohort study nested in a randomized field
using a portable digital scale (Techline, São Paulo,
trial in which 500 mother–child pairs were recruited at
Brazil), and length was measured using an infant
birth between October 2001 and July 2002 in São
stadiometer (Serwital Inc, Porto Alegre, Brazil). At
Leopoldo city, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
3.2 (Porto Alegre) and 3.9 (São Leopoldo) years of
(13). This city is located on the metropolitan region
age, children were directly weighted barefoot and
of the state and has currently about 200000 inhabi-
wearing light clothes using a digital scale (Techline),
tants. Mothers were recruited at the maternity wards
and height was measured with children standing
from the only city hospital that assists mainly the low-
straight using a stadiometer (SECA, Hamburg,
income populations. The children were randomized
Germany). Tricipital and subscapular skin-fold thick-
into intervention and control groups. The intervention
nesses and waist circumference were also mea-
consisted of dietary advice about breastfeeding and
sured. BMI was calculated as [weight {kg}/height
complementary feeding based on the ‘10 steps for 2
{m} ], and BMI-for-age Z-scores (BMI-Z) were esti-
healthy feeding for Brazilian children from birth to
mated based on the World Health Organization stan-
2 years of age’ (13,14). HIV-positive mothers and
dards (15). Children were classified as overweight
infants with congenital malformation were not eligible
when BMI-Z was >+1. We used the term overweight
for the study. The children were re-evaluated at the
referring to overweight and obese children combined.
ages of 1 year and 3.9 years for the collection of die-
Ethnicity was self-defined by parents through skin
tary and anthropometric data.
colour, as whites and non-whites (black and brown),
as officially used in demographic censuses in the
Porto Alegre cohort
country. Previous studies performed in this geo-
This was also a cohort study nested in a randomized graphic region show that Amerindian influence is very
field trial performed between April of 2008 and May of low (16). The children’s mothers provided informed
© 2016 World Obesity. Pediatric Obesity ••, ••–••