Brain Mechanisms of Overeating in Children

Completed

Conditions studied: Pediatric Obesity, Inhibition, Decision Making, fMRI

In brief

The proposed research will follow healthy weight children who vary by family risk for obesity to identify the neurobiological and appetitive traits that are implicated in overeating and weight gain during the critical pre-adolescent period. The investigator's central hypothesis is that increased intake from large portions of energy dense foods is due in part to reduced activity in brain regions implicated in inhibitory control and decision making, combined with increased activity in reward processing pathways. To test this hypothesis, the investigators will recruit 120 healthy weight children, aged 7-8 years, at two levels of obesity risk (i.e., 60 high-risk and 60 low-risk) based on parent weight status. This will result in 240 participants: 120 children and their parents.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03341247

Run by

Penn State University

People needed

254

Starts

2018-01-31

Expected to finish

2023-06-20

Last updated by the study team

2024-01-03

Who can join

Age: 7 and older, up to 8. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Child is in good health based on parental self-report
• Child has no learning disabilities (e.g., ADHD)
• Child has no diagnosed psychological or medical conditions/devices, or metal in/on the body that may impact comfort or safety in the fMRI (e.g., anxiety, insulin pump)
• Child is not on any medications known to influence body weight, taste, food intake, behavior, or blood flow
• Child is not claustrophobic
• Child is between the ages of 7-8 years-old at enrollment
• Child's immediate family members have not been diagnosed with a psychological disorder, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc.
• Child's biological mother and biological father have a body mass index either between 18.5 - 25 kg/m2 (low-risk group) or biological mother has a body mass index greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 and biological father has a body mass index greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2 (high-risk group)
• Child's parent participating in study must be available to attend visits with child

You may not qualify if…

• Child is not in good health based on parent self-report
• Child has any learning disabilities (e.g., ADHD)
• Child has any psychological or medical conditions/devices that may impact comfort in the fMRI (e.g., anxiety, insulin pump)
• Child is taking any medications known to influence body weight, taste, food intake, behavior, or blood flow
• Child is claustrophobic
• Child is less than 7 or greater than 8 years-old at enrollment
• Child has any immediate family members diagnosed with a psychological disorder, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc.
• Child's biological mother or biological father's body mass index do not fit into the parameters for either group (both biological parents < 18.5 for low-risk group or biological mother is < 30 and biological father is < 25 for high-risk group)
• Child's parent participating in study is not available to attend visits with child
• Child is blue/green colorblind
• Child is not fluent in the English language

Where it is running

• The Pennsylvania State University — University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.