Eating in the Absence of Hunger Is a Stable Predictor of Adiposity Gains in Middle Childhood.

Background: Eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) is a behavioral phenotype of pediatric obesity characterized by the consumption of palatable foods beyond hunger. Studies in children have identified EAH to be stable over time, but findings are unclear on whether it predicts the development of adiposity, particularly in middle childhood, a period of increased autonomy over food choices.

Objectives: We hypothesized that EAH would remain stable and be associated with increased adiposity over a ≥1-y prospective study in 7-8-y old children without obesity.

PACE: a Novel Eating Behavior Phenotype to Assess Risk for Obesity in Middle Childhood.

Background: Behavioral phenotypes that predict future weight gain are needed to identify children susceptible to obesity.

Objectives: This prospective study developed an eating behavior risk score to predict change in adiposity over 1 y in children.

Methods: Data from 6 baseline visits (Time 1, T1) and a 1-y follow-up visit (Time 2, T2) were collected from 76, 7- to 8-y-old healthy children recruited from Central Pennsylvania.

The Cerebellar Response to Visual Portion Size Cues Is Associated with the Portion Size Effect in Children.

The neural mechanisms underlying susceptibility to eating more in response to large portions (i.e., the portion size effect) remain unclear.

Does 'portion size' matter? Brain responses to food and non-food cues presented in varying amounts.

Larger portions of food elicit greater intake than smaller portions of food, particularly when foods are high in energy density (kcal/g; ED). The neural mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. The present study used fMRI to assess brain activation to food (higher-ED, lower-ED) and non-food (office supplies) images presented in larger and smaller (i.

The food and beverage cues in digital marketing model: special considerations of social media, gaming, and livestreaming environments for food marketing and eating behavior research.

Digital marketing to children, teens, and adults contributes to substantial exposure to cues and persuasive messages that drive the overconsumption of energy dense foods and sugary beverages. Previous food marketing research has focused on traditional media, but less is known about how marketing techniques translate within digital platforms, such as social media, livestreaming, and gaming. Building upon previous theories and models, we propose a new model entitled food and beverage cues in digital marketing (FBCDM).

Loss of control eating in children is associated with altered cortical and subcortical brain structure.

Introduction: Loss of control (LOC) eating is the perceived inability to control how much is eaten, regardless of actual amount consumed. Childhood LOC-eating is a risk factor for the development of binge-eating disorder (BED), but its neurobiological basis is poorly understood. Studies in children with BED have shown both increased gray matter volume in regions related to top-down cognitive control (e.

Observational Methods in Studies of Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Twenty-Year Retrospective Review.

This narrative review describes the observational approaches used to study infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) published between 2001 and 2021. Articles were included in this narrative review if they were (1) original peer-reviewed articles published in English in PubMed and Web of Science; (2) published between 1 January 2001, and 31 December 2021; (3) conducted in an LMIC; and (4) employed observations and focused on IYCF practices among children aged 6-59 months. The studies ( = 51) revealed a wide-ranging application of direct meal and full-day observations, as well as indirect spot checks, to study IYCF.

Poorer inhibitory control was related to greater food intake across meals varying in portion size: A randomized crossover trial.

Individuals eat more food when larger portions are served, and this portion size effect could be influenced by inhibitory control (the ability to suppress an automatic response). Inhibitory control may also relate to obesogenic meal behaviors such as eating faster, taking larger bites, and frequent switching between meal components (such as bites of food and sips of water). In a randomized crossover design, 44 adults ate lunch four times in the laboratory.

Children's Energy Intake Generally Increases in Response to the Energy Density of Meals but Varies with the Amounts and Types of Foods Served.

Background: Food energy density (ED; kcal/g) is positively related to energy intake in numerous studies. A recent secondary analysis proposed that when the ED of consumed food is above a breakpoint, adults sense calories and adjust meal size to minimize overconsumption.

Objectives: We conducted a secondary analysis of measured intakes in preschool children to assess how meal energy intake was related to meal ED as well as to meal portions, eating occasions, and menus.

Variety and portion size combine to increase food intake at single-course and multi-course meals.

Increases in food variety and portion size independently promote intake. Little is known about how these effects combine or how they depend on meal structure. In two randomized crossover experiments, once a week for four weeks, women ate a lunch meal that was varied in two properties: variety (low: three bowls of the favorite dish vs.

Portion size affects food selection in an immersive virtual reality buffet and is related to measured intake in laboratory meals varying in portion size.

A crucial step for validating the utility of an immersive virtual reality (iVR) buffet to study eating behavior is to determine whether variations in food characteristics such as portion size (PS) are relevant predictors of food selection in an iVR buffet. We tested whether manipulating PS in an iVR buffet affects the weight of food selected, and whether this response to PS is similar to participants' measured intake when PS varies at laboratory meals. In a randomized crossover design, 91 adults (18-71 y; 64 females; BMI = 25.

Children at high familial risk for obesity show executive functioning deficits prior to development of excess weight status.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether children with healthy weight who vary by familial risk for obesity differ in executive functioning.

Methods: Children (age 7-8 years) without obesity (n = 93, 52% male) who differed by familial risk for obesity (based on maternal weight status) completed go/no-go and stop-signal tasks to assess inhibitory control and an N-back task to assess working memory. Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry measured adiposity.

Inter-individual differences in children's short-term energy compensation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The ability to regulate energy intake is often assessed using a preloading paradigm to measure short-term energy compensation. In children, large variability exists with this paradigm both within- and across- studies and is poorly understood.

Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to better understand factors contributing to variability in children's energy compensation.

Switching between foods: A potential behavioral phenotype of hedonic hunger and increased obesity risk in children.

Context: Reward-based eating is a trait that increases risk for eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) and obesity. Eating behaviors such as switching more frequently between different foods may increase intake during EAH by delaying the onset of sensory-specific satiation (SSS); however, this question has not been empirically tested.

Objectives: 1) Test whether switching between foods mediates the relationship between reward-based eating and EAH intake.

Designing a childhood obesity preventive intervention using the multiphase optimization strategy: The Healthy Bodies Project.

Background/aims: Preventing the development of childhood obesity requires multilevel, multicomponent, comprehensive approaches. Study designs often do not allow for systematic evaluation of the efficacy of individual intervention components before the intervention is fully tested. As such, childhood obesity prevention programs may contain a mix of effective and ineffective components.

Children with lower ratings of executive functions have a greater response to the portion size effect.

Deficits in executive functions (EFs), a set of cognitive processes related to self-regulation, are associated with the development of obesity. Prior studies from our group showed that lower food-cue related activation in brain regions implicated in self-regulation was related to a larger portion size effect. We tested the hypothesis that lower EFs in children would be positively related to the portion size effect.

Dimensions of sleep quality are related to objectively measured eating behaviors among children at high familial risk for obesity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether dimensions of sleep quality were associated with homeostatic and hedonic eating behaviors among children with healthy weight (BMI-for-age < 90%) but varying maternal weight status.

Methods: A total of 77 children (mean [SD], age: 7.4 [0.

Food Properties and Individual Characteristics Influence Children's Intake Across Multiple Days of Weighed Assessments in Childcare Programs.

Background: Because children often consume substantial proportions of their diets in childcare programs, it is critical to determine what they eat when served menus meeting dietary recommendations and how intake is related to individual characteristics.

Objectives: Using weighed assessments, we characterized children's consumption across 15 daily menus and investigated the relationship between properties of the food consumed and child characteristics.

Methods: In 3 crossover trials in childcare centers that followed dietary guidelines, we provided and weighed all meals and snacks for 5 consecutive days.

The effects of snack foods of different energy density on self-served portions and consumption in preschool children.

It is recommended that preschoolers serve themselves their own food portions; however, it is unclear what factors influence the amount they select for consumption, and particularly how their selected portions are influenced by food properties such as energy density, volume, and weight. We offered preschool children snacks differing in energy density (ED) and investigated the effects on the amounts they served and then consumed. In a crossover design, 52 children aged 4-6 y (46% girls; 21% overweight) ate an afternoon snack on 2 days in their childcare classrooms.

The impact of between-session habituation, within-session habituation, and weight gain on response to food exposure for adolescents with eating disorders.

Objective: Exposure therapy is a promising treatment for eating disorders (EDs). However, questions remain about the effectiveness of exposure to feared foods during the weight restoration phase of treatment, and the importance of between-session and within-session habituation.

Method: We recruited 54 adolescents from a partial hospitalization program (PHP) for EDs which included daily food exposure.

Switching between bites of food and sips of water is related to food intake across meals varying in portion size.

Individuals eat more when served more food, but little is known about how this portion size effect is moderated by meal-related characteristics, particularly the inclusion of water served as a beverage. Patterns of eating and drinking as well as consumption of water could affect satiation by modifying exposure to the sensory qualities of food. In a crossover design, 44 adults ate lunch in the laboratory once a week for 4 weeks and intake was measured.

The role of reinforcement learning and value-based decision-making frameworks in understanding food choice and eating behaviors.

The obesogenic food environment includes easy access to highly-palatable, energy-dense, "ultra-processed" foods that are heavily marketed to consumers; therefore, it is critical to understand the neurocognitive processes the underlie overeating in response to environmental food-cues (e.g., food images, food branding/advertisements).

Eating rate and bite size were related to food intake across meals varying in portion size: A randomized crossover trial in adults.

Serving larger portions leads to increased food intake, but behavioral factors that influence the magnitude of this portion size effect have not been well characterized. We investigated whether measures of eating microstructure such as eating rate and bite size moderated the portion size effect. We also explored how sensory-specific satiety (SSS; the relative hedonic decline of a food as it is eaten) was affected by eating microstructure and larger portions.

Children's Portion Selection Is Predicted by Food Liking and Is Related to Intake in Response to Increased Portions.

Background: When children choose amounts of food to eat, it is unclear what influences the portions they select and whether their selections are related to the amounts they consume.

Objectives: Using a computer survey, we investigated the effect of food liking on portion selection in middle childhood and examined how children's selections were related to measured intake at meals in which portions of all foods were varied across 4 test days.

Methods: Fifty-one children aged 7-10 y completed a computer survey of 20 common foods with a range of energy density.