Pediatric Obesity
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this 18-month project is to investigate how decision-making influences food choice and consumption in children ages 7 to 11 years old. Although several studies suggest that the ability to make good decisions relates to eating behaviors, no studies have looked at how food reward influences the decision-making process to impact actual food intake. This proposal will answer these questions and bridge this gap in knowledge, which could lead to the development of more effective interventions for childhood obesity. To accomplish this, the investigators have assembled a diverse team with expertise in food intake, nutrition, and decision sciences. First, the investigators will establish if there are differences in decision-making between children varying in weight status. Second, the investigators will determine if performance on behavioral decision-making tasks relates to food consumption in the laboratory. Third, the investigators will examine response functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response to various rewards (i.e. food and money) and determine if this is influenced by child weight status. Fourth, the investigators will examine differences in fMRI BOLD at rest in decision-making regions are correlated with food intake and weight status. Eighty-two children will participate in our study. The long-term goal of this project is to investigate if there are differences in brain regions corresponding to these behaviors in overweight children and if these differences relate to eating behaviors in this population. Children will undergo fMRI while playing a reward task as well as consume meals in our laboratory. Decision-making will also be assessed by having children complete various behavioral measurements of reward and inhibitory control.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Penn State University
Study design
Observational model
OTHER
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
7 Years to 11 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Right-handed * English as native language * Reading at/above grade level * Not Claustrophobic * Generally Healthy
Exclusion criteria
* Left-handedness * Metal in or on body that cannot be removed * Claustrophobia * Medication usage that may alter brain activity or blood flow * Medical disorder that may impact comfort of safety in MRI scanner * Food Allergies * Dietary Restrictions * Learning Disabilities * Psychiatric Disorders
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral dietary self-control assessment | Collected at either week 1-3 (randomized) | Measured by performance on a dietary self-control task |
| Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response to various reward types (food, money, no reward). | Collected at fMRI scan at week 4 | Regions of interest BOLD analysis of an fMRI card-guessing task for various reward types |
| Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response at rest (resting-state fMRI) | Collected at fMRI scan at week 4 | Regions of interest BOLD analysis of resting-state fMRI to examine differences in brain regions of interest at rest |
| Behavioral inhibitory control task | Collected at either week 1-3 (randomized) | Measured by performance on a go/nogo task |
| Behavioral reward inhibitory control task | Collected after the behavioral inhibitory control task (same visit), which is either week 1-3 (randomized) | Measured by performance on a go/nogo task with a reward incentive |
| Behavioral risk-taking and reward task | Collected at either week 1-3 (randomized) | Measured by performance on the hungry donkey task |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Energy intake at a buffet meal | Collected at either week 1-3 (randomized) | Measured at an objective laboratory test-meal (kcal and grams) |
| Energy intake after a meal preload | Collected at either week 1-3 (randomized) following the baseline meal | Measured at an objective laboratory test-meal (kcal and grams) |
| Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response to various reward types (food, money, no reward). | Collected at week 4 | Whole brain BOLD analysis of an fMRI card-guessing task for various reward types |
| Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response at baseline | Collected at week 4 | Whole brain BOLD analysis of an fMRI card-guessing task for various reward types |
| Energy intake at baseline | Collected at either week 1-3 (randomized) | Measured at an objective laboratory test-meal (kcal and grams) |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Height | Collected at week 1 | Height in cm measured by stadiometer |
| Weight | Collected at week 1 | Weight in kg measured by a standard digital scale |
| Body fat percentage | Collected at week 1 | Assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis scale |
| Loss of control eating | Collected at week 4 | Loss of control when eating is frequently reported in middle childhood. Loss of control when eating was assessed via interview-style questionnaire to determine pre-clinical binge-like eating behaviors that may influence the primary outcome of energy intake at the 4 conditions of test-meals. |
| Inhibitory control and reward sensitivity questionnaires | Collected on either week 1-3 (randomized) | Parent and child report of inhibitory control and reward sensitivity on a questionnaire |
| Body mass index | Collected at week 1 | Calculated from height, age, sex |
| Sex | collected at week 1 | sex of participant |
| Parent height | collected at week 1 | height in cm of parent measured by a stadiometer |
| Parent weight | collected at week 1 | weight in kg of parent measured by a standard digital scale |
| parent body fat | collected at week 1 | measured by bioelectrical impedance |
| Puberty Assessment Parental Report | Collected at week 1 | Parent report of pubertal status questionnaire |
| Age | Collected at the week 1 | Age of participant |
| BMI percentile | Collected at week 1 | Calculated from height, weight, age and sex - according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) standards |
| BMI z-score | Collected at week 1 | Calculated from height, weight, age and sex - according to CDC standards |
| Fat mass index | Collected at week 1 | Calculated from height, weight, age, sex |
| Fat-free mass index | Collected at week 1 | Calculated from height, weight, age, sex |
| Appetitive traits | Collected at week 1 | Parent-reported questionnaire of habitual eating styles in children |
| Parental feeding strategies | Collected at week 1 | Parent-reported questionnaire of feeding practices |
| Family demographics | Collected at week 1 | Parent-report questionnaire |
| Liking of foods | Collected after each meal at multiple time points during weeks 1-4 | Ratings of how much the child likes each food in the meal on a visual analog scale |
| Fullness feelings | Collected at multiple time points during weeks 1-4 | Ratings of how full the child feels measured on a child-friendly visual analog scale |
| Pubertal Development | Collected at week 1 | Child report of pubertal status questionnaire |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed