Genetic Correlates of Wasting: a Pilot Study With Children Attending a Tertiary Feeding Clinic

Completed

• Conditions: Undernutrition; Underweight; Eating Disorders

• Registration Number: NCT04848129
• Lead Sponsor: University of Glasgow

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.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2021-04-13
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-04-13
• Study First Posted: 2021-04-19
• Study Start: 2021-05-01
• Primary Completion: 2021-12-31
• Study Completion: 2021-12-31
• Status Verified: 2022-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-03-29
• Last Update Posted: 2022-04-07

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 25

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

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
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 Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
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

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

New Lister building, Royal Infirmary; 🇬🇧 Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom