Relation of Consummatory and Anticipatory Food Reward to Obesity

Obesity is associated with increased risk for mortality, atherosclerotic cerebrovascular disease, coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, gallbladder disease, and diabetes mellitus, resulting in over 111,000 deaths annually in the United States ). In the US, 65% of adults are overweight or obese. Unfortunately, the treatment of choice for obesity (behavioral weight loss treatment) only results in a 10% reduction in body weight on average and most patients regain this weight within a few years. Further, most obesity prevention programs do not reduce risk for future weight gain. The limited success of treatment and prevention interventions may be due to an incomplete understanding of the processes that increase risk for obesity. Recent data suggest that obese adults show abnormalities in reward from food intake and anticipated food intake relative to lean adults, but the precise nature of these abnormalities is unclear and it has not been established whether these abnormalities predate obesity onset or are a consequence. It is vital to elucidate risk factors for obesity onset to advance understanding of etiological processes and determine the content of prevention and treatment programs.

The goals of this study are to (1) determine whether adolescents at high-risk for obesity, by virtue of having two obese parents, show abnormalities in reward from food intake (consummatory food reward) and anticipated reward from food intake (anticipatory food reward) compared to adolescents who are at low-risk for obesity, (2) determine whether abnormalities in consummatory and anticipatory food reward increase risk for weight gain and obesity onset, (3) examine moderators that may amplify the relations of consummatory and anticipatory food reward to unhealthy weight gain, and (4) examine changes in consummatory and anticipatory food reward in those participants who show obesity onset relative to those not showing obesity onset. Each of these goals is described in more detail below.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Weight Gain; Food Habits

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 162

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Oregon
    • Eugene, Oregon, United States, 97403
      • Oregon Research Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years to 16 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants will be 140 lean adolescents at risk for obesity (by virtue of having two obese parents) and 40 lean adolescents with two lean parents. Participants will range in age from 14-16 and be recruited from high schools.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• We will require that adolescents have age- and sex- adjusted standardized body mass index (BMI) scores between the 25th and 75th percentile at baseline for inclusion.
• Low risk youth: Lean parents will have a BMI between 18 and 25.
• High risk youth: Obese parents will have a BMI value of greater than 30.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students who report contraindicators of fMRI (e.g., metal implants, braces, or pregnancy).
• Current major psychiatric disorders (including substance use disorders, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, ADHD, major depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, or generalized anxiety disorder)
• Current use of analgesics and other psychoactive drugs (e.g., cocaine)
• Serious medical complications (e.g., diabetes)
• Relevant food allergies
• Current smoking
• Current weight loss dieting

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
obesity risk status; Lean adolescents at high-risk for obesity, by virtue of parental obesity, and lean adolescents at low-risk for obesity, by virtue of lean parents.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Test whether high-risk youth show abnormalities in consummatory and anticipatory food reward relative to low-risk youth	Using fMRI to test whether high-risk youth for obesity show differential neural responses in the striatum, and oral somatosensory and gustatory related brain regions when anticipating and during intake of a palatable food, relative to youth at low risk for obesity.	up to 3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Test the hypothesis that individuals showing abnormalities in anticipatory and consummatory food reward are at increased risk for future weight gain and obesity onset over a 3-year follow-up	Determine whether those showing hyper-brain activation during anticipation and intake of a palatable food (via fMRI) gain more body weight over a three year period.	up to 3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Oregon Research Institute
• Collaborators: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Winter SR, Yokum S, Stice E, Osipowicz K, Lowe MR. Elevated reward response to receipt of palatable food predicts future weight variability in healthy-weight adolescents. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Apr;105(4):781-789. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.116.141143. Epub 2017 Feb 22.
• Burger KS, Stice E. Elevated energy intake is correlated with hyperresponsivity in attentional, gustatory, and reward brain regions while anticipating palatable food receipt. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Jun;97(6):1188-94. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.055285. Epub 2013 Apr 17.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: June 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 7, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 6, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): March 8, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 1, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 29, 2015
• Last Verified: September 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Body Weight; Body Weight Changes; Weight Gain
• Other Study ID Numbers: DK080760-01