Changes in Food Reinforcement During Obesity Treatment

The reinforcing value of food, or how much a person "wants" a food, is an important determinant of food intake. Thus far, food reinforcement has only been studied in laboratory settings, and no studies have examined whether the reinforcing value of food is altered when dietary changes are made. The chronic deprivation that occurs when a low-calorie, low-fat diet is implemented for weight loss may increase the reinforcing value of all foods, but particularly for restricted high-fat foods. Greater increases in the reinforcing value of high-fat foods relative to low-fat foods may be detrimental for sustaining newly adopted eating behaviors that produce weight loss, whereas greater increases in the reinforcing value of low-fat foods relative to high-fat foods may aid in maintaining healthy eating behaviors. The aim of this application is to measure food reinforcement in a clinical setting to determine if food reinforcement changes when a traditional weight loss diet is prescribed. For this ancillary study, 147 volunteers will be recruited from the 165 overweight and obese women participating in the Program to Reduce Incontinence by Diet and Exercise (PRIDE) at The Miriam Hospital. As part of PRIDE, these participants will be randomized in a 2-to-1 ratio to either a 6-month weight loss intervention or usual care. Assessments of food reinforcement, dietary intake, and weight will occur at 0 and 6 months. Given that the intervention group changes their diet relative to the usual care group, it is hypothesized: 1) the intervention group will have greater increases in the reinforcing value of both high- and low-fat foods than the usual care group from 0 to 6 months; and 2) within the intervention group, decreases in frequency of consumption of high-fat foods will be related to increases in the reinforcing value of high-fat foods from 0 to 6 months. These results will lead to a novel line of research, examining the relationship between food reinforcement and weight loss maintenance, so that diets can be designed to promote changes in food reinforcement that aid in sustaining dietary changes and weight loss.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: hypocaloric, low-fat diet

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 147
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Rhode Island
    • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02903
      • The Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants from main parent study - PRIDE

Exclusion Criteria:

• Allergic to foods in investigation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1; Behavioral: hypocaloric low-fat diet	Behavioral: hypocaloric, low-fat diet; hypocaloric, low-fat diet
Placebo Comparator: 2; Behavioral: hypocaloric, low-fat diet	Behavioral: hypocaloric, low-fat diet; hypocaloric, low-fat diet

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Reinforcing value of low- and high-fat food	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
diet changes and weight loss	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The Miriam Hospital
• Collaborators: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Hollie A Raynor, PhD, University of Tennessee

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: July 1, 2004
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 1, 2007
• Study Completion (Actual): October 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 12, 2005
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 12, 2005
• First Posted (Estimate): September 20, 2005

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): April 20, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 19, 2012
• Last Verified: December 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 3U01DK067861-02S1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No