Individual Differences in Children's Susceptibility to Overeating

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Obesity

In brief

The portion size of foods has been identified as an important determinant of energy intake in children. It remains to be determined to what extent child weight status and the relative reinforcing value of food may interact with the obesogenic food environment to affect energy intake. The primary aim of this study was to compare energy intake at a meal in normal-weight and obese children when the portion size of palatable, energy-dense foods and a sugar-sweetened beverage was systematically increased. We hypothesized that increasing the portion size of all foods and the beverage at a meal will lead to a significant increase in energy intake in both normal-weight and obese children. Obese children, however, will show a significantly greater increase in energy intake than will normal-weight children. A second aim of this study was to test if children's response to increases in portion size was affected by how reinforcing they find food to be. We hypothesized that, when controlling for BMI, children who find food very reinforcing relative to nonfood alternatives will show a significantly greater increase in energy intake than will children who find food less reinforcing.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01905293

Run by

University of Pennsylvania

People needed

50

Starts

2011-05-01

Last updated by the study team

2013-07-23

Who can join

Age: 8 and older, up to 10. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• 8 to 10 years of age
• normal-weight or obese
• like most foods that were served in the study

You may not qualify if…

• serious medical conditions or medication use known to affect appetite, food intake, and body weight
• developmental or psychiatric conditions
• learning disability
• sight or hearing impairment
• food allergies or nutrient intolerances (including lactose intolerance)

Where it is running

• University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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