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

Eating Disorders Clinical Trial

Official title:

What Makes Children Thin? Genetic and Behavioural Correlates of Wasting: a Pilot Study With Children Attending a Tertiary Feeding Clinic

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04848129
• Other study ID #: NHSGGC290906Gen
• Status: Completed
• Start date: May 1, 2021
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2021

Study information

• Verified date: March 2022
• Source: University of Glasgow
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial 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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 25
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2021
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 1 Year to 16 Years

Eligibility

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Eating Disorders
• Feeding and Eating Disorders
• Malnutrition
• Thinness
• Undernutrition
• Underweight

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Feeding 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

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United Kingdom	New Lister building, Royal Infirmary	Glasgow	Scotland

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Glasgow	University of Stirling

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United Kingdom, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Genotype risk score	This the number of risk polymorphisms present for each child ranges from 0-20. a high score suggests more thinness	Within 1-2 months of recruitment
Secondary	Eating behaviour score	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	At recruitment or up to 2 months before
Secondary	Body mass index	weight (kg)/Height (m) squared	Up to two years before genetic test