Reward sensitivity and body weight: the intervening role of food responsive behavior and external eating

Abstract

Background: During the last three decades, the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has increased worldwide. It is well established that different child-related factors such as food approach behaviors (i.e. eating behaviors that imply movements towards food) contribute to the development of overweight. However, research is lacking on the underlying mechanisms leading to food approach behaviors, which in turn lead to overweight.

Subject/methods: Via parent-report questionnaires, we investigated the relation between the personality trait reward sensitivity and body weight in a convenience sample of 211 children aged 2.5-9 years. We further investigated the intervening role of food approach behaviors in the association between reward sensitivity and body weight.

Results: Unexpectedly, there was no direct association between reward sensitivity and body weight. Despite the absence of a direct effect, a significant indirect association was found between reward sensitivity and body weight through the intervening food approach variables (i.e. food responsive behavior and external eating).

Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of the focus on eating behaviors as well as trait characteristics in prevention programs for overweight.

Keywords: Eating behavior; Food approach; Overweight; Preschool children; Reward sensitivity; Weight status.