Influence of exclusive breastfeeding on hippocampal structure, satiety responsiveness, and weight status.

Longer exclusive breastfeeding duration has been associated with differences in neural development, better satiety responsiveness, and decreased risk for childhood obesity. Given hippocampus sensitivity to diet and potential role in the integration of satiety signals, hippocampus may play a role in these relationships. We conducted a secondary analysis of 149, 7-11-year-olds (73 males) who participated in one of five studies that assessed neural responses to food cues.

Brain response to food brands correlates with increased intake from branded meals in children: an fMRI study.

Food branding is ubiquitous, however, not all children are equally susceptible to its effects. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine whether food brands evoke differential response than non-food brands in brain areas related to motivation and inhibitory control using blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and 2) determine the association between brain response and energy intake at test-meals presented with or without brands. Twenty-eight 7-10 year-old children completed four visits as part of a within-subjects design where they consumed three multi-item test-meals presented with familiar food brands, novel food brand, and no brand.

Increasing flavor variety with herbs and spices improves relative vegetable intake in children who are propylthiouracil (PROP) tasters relative to nontasters.

American children do not meet the recommended daily servings of vegetables, and previous research suggests children who can taste the bitterness of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) are more likely to have low vegetable intake. This study tested the hypothesis that adding multiple herb and spice blends to vegetables to increase flavor variety within a meal would increase vegetable intake in 3-5year-old children. Children attended two laboratory visits and consumed two test meals of common foods: macaroni and cheese, applesauce, carrots, milk, and water.