Abstract
Understanding the neural response to food and food cues during early stages of weight gain in childhood may help us determine the drive processes involved in unhealthy eating behavior and risk for obesity. Healthy weight and overweight children ages 6–8 (N = 18; 10 with BMI between 5th and 85th %ile and 8 with BMI >85th %ile) underwent fMRI scans while anticipating and receiving tastes of chocolate milkshake. Parents completed a Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. Results reveal greater response to milkshake taste receipt in overweight children in the right insula, operculum, precentral gyrus, and angular gyrus, and bilateral precuneus and posterior cingulate. No group differences were found for brain response to a visual food cue. Exploratory analyses revealed interactions between self-report measures of eating behavior and weight status on brain response to taste. This pilot study provides preliminary evidence of feasibility of studying young children’s taste processing and suggests a possible developmental shift in brain response to taste.
Highlights
Obesity is associated with many negative health consequences and is resistant to treatment in adulthood [1], placing an importance on prevention interventions
No significant group differences were found between healthy weight and overweight groups in response to images
No relations were present between brain response to images and scores on Desire to Drink or Food Responsiveness
Summary
Obesity is associated with many negative health consequences and is resistant to treatment in adulthood [1], placing an importance on prevention interventions. Adults with obesity show hyper-response in reward regions to food cues, and a hypo-response to actual food intake [3], but lean adolescents at-risk for developing obesity by having two obese parents do not. Instead, they show greater activation to milkshake taste, compared to lean adolescents at lower-risk for developing obesity. No group differences were found in response to a cue signaling impending taste [4] This may suggest that prior to the onset of obesity, individuals have hyper-response of reward circuitry to food taste, which diminishes after chronic overeating.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
