The Relative Reinforcing Value of Cookies Is Higher Among Head Start Preschoolers With Obesity

Executive functioning is linked to feeding practices and food insecurity in Head Start mothers

Lower executive functioning is associated with more reactive, coercive general parenting practices. Parents who experience poverty, a chronic stressor, may have compromised executive functioning that impacts parenting practices, but less is known about the impact on parent feeding practices. This study examined associations between maternal executive functioning and feeding practices among families living in low-income contexts. Participants included 137 mothers of children enrolled in Head Start who completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult version, Child Feeding Questionnaire, Feeding to Manage Child Behavior Questionnaire, and the USDA Food Security Module. Hierarchical linear regression examined the effect of maternal executive function on maternal feeding practices (monitoring of child food intake, food to soothe, and food as a reward) after adjusting for covariates. The moderating effect of food security on this association was also explored. Mothers were white (90%), non-Hispanic (96%), about half had a high school diploma or less (55%), and a third of households experienced food insecurity (35%). Maternal executive functioning explained 9% of the variance for monitoring of child food intake (β = 0.03, p = 0.0006) and 17% of the variance for food to soothe (β = -0.03, p < 0.0001), over and above the variance explained by food security status, employment status, and child BMI z-score. Lower maternal executive functioning was associated with lower odds of household food security (OR: 0.95, CI: 0.92, 0.99). Targeting maternal executive functioning or its environmental supports may be an effective intervention strategy to promote monitoring and less food to soothe, especially among families who experience stressors related to poverty. Longitudinal research is needed to replicate these findings, and to understand the relationship between parent executive function and child weight outcomes.

An acute social stressor decreases reinforcing value of both high and low energy-dense food in college students in a randomized controlled trial

It is well known that a large portion of the population elevates their intake of high energy-dense foods during times of stress; however, it is understudied whether stress affects the reinforcing value of a food reward. Further knowledge of this relationship may help us better understand the positive correlation between reinforcing value of food and obesity. Therefore, it was tested if an acute stressor would increase the reinforcing value of low or high energy-dense food. Participants (N = 70) were randomized to a stress or no-stress condition after which they were allowed to work to gain access to a food reward and reading time. To determine if high energy-dense food was specifically affected, half the participants from each stress manipulation were randomly assigned to work for either grapes or chocolate candies. Participants in the stress condition worked less for food access than those in the no-stress condition, for both low and high energy-dense foods, but stress did not affect the reinforcing value of reading time. These results indicate that, contrary to our hypothesis, in a sample of college students, an acute stressor decreased reinforcing value of food, with no difference between a low and high energy-dense food item.