(1) Background: Evidence has accumulated that patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) are at higher risk for vitamin D deficiency than healthy controls. In epidemiologic studies, low 25(OH) vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels were associated with depression. This study analyzed the relationship between 25(OH)D serum levels in adolescent patients and AN and depressive symptoms over the course of treatment. (2) Methods: 25(OH)D levels and depressive symptoms were analyzed in 93 adolescent (in-)patients with AN from the Anorexia Nervosa Day patient versus Inpatient (ANDI) multicenter trial at clinic admission, discharge, and 1 year follow up. Mixed regression models were used to analyze the relationship between 25(OH)D levels and depressive symptoms assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). (3) Results: Although mean 25(OH)D levels constantly remained in recommended ranges (≥50 nmol/L) during AN treatment, levels decreased from (in)patient admission to 1 year follow up. Levels of 25(OH)D were neither cross-sectionally, prospectively, nor longitudinally associated with the BDI-II score. (4) Conclusions: This study did not confirm that 25(OH)D levels are associated with depressive symptoms in patients with AN. However, increasing risks of vitamin D deficiency over the course of AN treatment indicate that clinicians should monitor 25(OH)D levels.

A previous follow-up of the GINIplus study showed that breastfeeding could protect against early eczema. However, effects diminished in adolescence, possibly indicating a “rebound effect” in breastfed children after initial protection. We evaluated the role of early eczema until three years of age on allergies until young adulthood and assessed whether early eczema modifies the association between breastfeeding and allergies. Data from GINIplus until 20-years of age (N = 4058) were considered. Information on atopic eczema, asthma, and rhinitis was based on reported physician’s diagnoses. Adjusted Odds Ratios (aOR) were modelled by using generalized estimating equations. Early eczema was associated with eczema (aORs = 3.2–14.4), asthma (aORs = 2.2–2.7), and rhinitis (aORs = 1.2–2.7) until young adulthood. For eczema, this association decreased with age (p-for-interaction = 0.002–0.006). Longitudinal models did not show associations between breastfeeding and the respective allergies from 5 to 20 years of age. Moreover, early eczema generally did not modify the association between milk feeding and allergies except for rhinitis in participants without family history of atopy. Early eczema strongly predicts allergies until young adulthood. While preventive effects of full breastfeeding on eczema in infants with family history of atopy does not persist until young adulthood, the hypothesis of a rebound effect after initial protection cannot be confirmed.

Zusammenfassung.Einleitung: Klassische ernährungsepidemiologische Studien (Beobachtungsstudien und randomisierte Interventionsstudien) zeigen, dass die Ernährung ein wichtiger Ansatzpunkt für die Prävention und Therapie psychischer Störungen sein könnte. Diese Studientypen haben allerdings Limitationen, die bei der Ergebnisinterpretation berücksichtigt werden müssen. In dieser narrativen übersichtsarbeit wird beschrieben, wie genetische Studien ein Bindeglied darstellen können, um einen Zusammenhang zwischen Ernährung und psychischen Störungen herzustellen. Methodik: Im Artikel werden verschiedene Ansätze genetischer phänotypübergreifender Analysen sowie Beispiele für deren Anwendungen in der ernährungspsychiatrischen Forschung beschrieben. Darüber hinaus werden spezifische Voraussetzungen sowie Stärken und Schwächen diskutiert. Ergebnisse: Als Methoden genetischer phänotypübergreifender Analysen sind im Rahmen ernährungspsychiatrischer Forschung bislang genetische Korrelationsanalysen, Look-up-Analysen sowie Mendelsche Randomisierungsstudien (MR-Studien) eingesetzt worden. Genetische Korrelationsanalysen und Look-up-Analysen geben erste Hinweise auf mögliche genetische überlappungen zwischen einer psychischen Störung und einem Stoffwechselweg und/oder der Versorgung mit einem spezifischen Nährstoff. MR-Studien sind weitergehende Detailanalysen mit dem Ziel, Kausalzusammenhänge zu identifizieren, beinhalten allerdings sehr spezifische Grundvoraussetzungen für ihre Durchführung. Schlussfolgerung: Genetische phänotypübergreifende Analysen sind eine sinnvolle Ergänzung der klassischen Ernährungsepidemiologie. Insbesondere signifikante Ergebnisse von MR-Studien sind eine wichtige Grundlage zur Entwicklung geeigneter Ernährungsinterventionen, die in nachfolgenden randomisiert kontrollierten Interventionsstudien mit deutlich erhöhter Erfolgsaussicht getestet werden können. Sie sind somit wichtige Instrumente einer effizienten ernährungspsychiatrischen Forschung.

Background: While circadian eating patterns seem to be involved in the aetiology of obesity in adulthood. Little is known about tracking of such patterns from infancy to pre- and primary school age and their prospective impact on body composition. Methods: Based on data from the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) Study we investigated whether circadian eating patterns in infancy (0–1 years) (1) track to pre- (3–4 years) or primary-school age (6–7 years) and (2) are associated with body composition at primary-school age, using multivariable linear regression models. Circadian patterns were extracted from 3-day weighed dietary records (n = 3,780 records from n = 510 children) and related to body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS), fat mass index (FMI) and fat free mass index (FFMI). Results: Circadian eating patterns [i.e. eating occasion frequency (n/day), duration of nightly fasting (min), percentage of total energy intake from meals and snacks (%)] except carbohydrate intake after 6 p.m. track from infancy to pre- and primary school age (all p < 0.05). Sensitivity analyses stratified by breastfeeding duration (exclusive breastfed ≥ 4 months, yes/no) showed that the extent of tracking was less pronounced for ≥ 4 months breastfeeding. There were no significant associations between any aspect of circadian eating patterns in infancy and BMI-SDS or body composition during primary-school age (all p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our data suggest that circadian eating pattern in pre- and primary school age are shaped in infancy. However, this tracking of circadian eating pattern in childhood does not appear to have any health relevance with regard to BMI-SDS or body composition.