Neural Mechanisms Underlying Children's Responses to Food Portion Size and Energy Density

December 16, 2020 updated by: Kathleen Loralee Keller, Penn State University

Increased portion sizes of foods high in energy density (calories per gram of food) have been implicated in the obesity epidemic. Numerous studies show that children and adults eat more from larger portions of food than they do from smaller portions, a response known as the portion size effect. Despite the robust and consistent nature of these findings, the mechanisms underlying the portion size effect are not known. The long-term goal of this research is to identify the neural mechanisms involved in the portion size effect so that this information can be used to develop effective weight-management strategies. Differences in neural response to food cues, as demonstrated by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), can help clarify the factors that determine susceptibility to large portions. The goal of this study is to identify brain regions activated in response to portion size and energy density and relate these neural responses to laboratory eating behaviors in children.

The investigators hypothesize that high relative to low energy density food images will be associated with increased activation in regions of the brain involved in reward- and sensory- processing and that large relative to small portion size food images will be associated with increased activation in regions of the brain involved in cognitive control. In addition, the investigators hypothesize that these brain responses will influence the relationship between portion size served and energy intake at laboratory meals.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

What this study will add to the literature: The response to food images that vary by portion size using fMRI has not been previously reported. Furthermore, how the brain response to food portion size and energy density is related to energy intake has not been previously reported. The goal of this study is to identify brain regions activated in response to portion size and energy density and relate these neural responses to laboratory eating behaviors in children.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

108

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

7 years to 10 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Children between the ages of 7-10 years old and their parents

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Right-handedness
  • English as native language
  • Reading at /above grade level
  • Not claustrophobic
  • Generally healthy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Left-handedness
  • Metal in or on the body that cannot be removed
  • Claustrophobic
  • Medication usage that could alter brain activity
  • Medical disorder that may impact comfort in scanner
  • Food allergies

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
fMRI blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to food portion size and energy density
Time Frame: Collected at fMRI scan (1 of 1) at week 5
Whole-brain response to food images that varied at 2 levels of portion size and 2 levels of energy density
Collected at fMRI scan (1 of 1) at week 5
Energy intake
Time Frame: Collected at week 1, 2, 3, and 4
Energy intake (kcal and grams) of foods consumed ad libitum at each laboratory test-meal in response to 4 conditions of portion sizes (100% reference, 133%, 167%, 200%).
Collected at week 1, 2, 3, and 4

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Region of Interest (ROI)-response to food portion size and energy density
Time Frame: Collected at fMRI scan (1 of 1) at week 5
Response in selected brain regions of interest to food images varied at 2 levels of portion size and 2 levels of energy density
Collected at fMRI scan (1 of 1) at week 5

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Appetitive traits
Time Frame: Collected at week 1 (Baseline)
Parent-reported questionnaire of habitual eating styles in children
Collected at week 1 (Baseline)
Body composition a/o weight status
Time Frame: Collected at week 1 (Baseline)
Height, weight and body fat percentage were measured. Body mass index (BMI), BMI z score, fat-mass index and fat-free-mass index will be calculated.
Collected at week 1 (Baseline)
Liking of foods
Time Frame: Collected at week 5
Ratings of how much child likes food presented on a computerized visual analog scale
Collected at week 5
Wanting of foods
Time Frame: Collected at week 5
Ratings of how much child wants food presented on a computerized visual analog scale
Collected at week 5
Loss of control eating
Time Frame: Collected at week 1 (Baseline)
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.
Collected at week 1 (Baseline)
Parental feeding strategies
Time Frame: Collected at week 1 (Baseline)
Parent-reported measures of feeding practices
Collected at week 1 (Baseline)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Penn State University

Collaborators

Social Science Research Institute

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kathleen Keller, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 26, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 2, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

May 3, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 17, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 16, 2020

Last Verified

December 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • FoodBehavior01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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