Attentional bias to food cues in youth with loss of control eating.

Emerging data indicate that adults with binge eating may exhibit an attentional bias toward highly palatable foods, which may promote obesogenic eating patterns and excess weight gain. However, it is unknown to what extent youth with loss of control (LOC) eating display a similar bias. We therefore studied 76 youth (14.

Puberty and the manifestations of loss of control eating in children and adolescents.

Objective: We investigated the manifestations of pediatric loss of control (LOC) eating at different stages of pubertal development.

Method: Participants were a nonclinical sample of 468 youth (8-17 years). Physical examination determined pubertal stage.

Depressive symptoms and observed eating in youth.

Depressive symptoms in youth may be a risk factor for obesity, with altered eating behaviors as one possible mechanism. We tested whether depressive symptoms were associated with observed eating patterns expected to promote excessive weight gain in two separate samples. In Study 1, 228 non-treatment-seeking youth, ages 12-17y (15.