Overweight children find food more reinforcing and consume more energy than do nonoverweight children.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
The reinforcing value of food is a reliable index of motivation to eat and energy intake. Obese adults find food more reinforcing than do nonobese adults.

OBJECTIVE:
The present study was designed to assess whether the relative reinforcing value of food differs as a function of weight status in 8-12-y-old children and whether the relative reinforcing value of food differs depending on the types of available nonfood alternatives.

DESIGN:
The reinforcing value of pizza (experiment 1) or snack foods (experiment 2) was measured on progressive ratio schedules of reinforcement in nonoverweight and overweight children. Experiment 2 also compared the relative reinforcing value of food and 2 nonfood alternatives:
time to spend playing a hand-held video game or time to spend reading magazines or completing word searches or mazes.

RESULTS:
In both experiments, overweight children found food more reinforcing and consumed more energy than did their leaner peers. In experiment 2, the relative reinforcing value of food versus sedentary activity was higher in overweight children, but lower in nonoverweight children, regardless of the type of alternative activity available.

CONCLUSIONS:
These results show that overweight children find food more reinforcing than do nonoverweight children. This individual difference was replicated in different experiments using different types of foods and food alternatives. These studies provide support for studying food reinforcement as a factor associated with overweight and obesity.

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Author information

Author/s: Temple, Jennifer L (JL); Legierski, Christina M (CM); Giacomelli, April M (AM); Salvy, Sarah-Jeanne (SJ); Epstein, Leonard H (LH);

Affiliation: University at Buffalo, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Buffalo, NY 14214-3000, USA.

Grants: HD 39792 (Agency:United States NICHD)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: The American journal of clinical nutrition (Am J Clin Nutr), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 87 (issue 5) : pp 1121-7

Dates: Created 2008/05/12; Completed 2008/06/11;

PMID: 18469229, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Child
Energy Intake - physiology
Female
Food
Food Preferences
Humans

Humans
Male
Motivation
Overweight - epidemiology; etiology; psychology
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Weight Gain

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