Brain response to taste in overweight children: A pilot feasibility study
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
Plos One
|February 25, 2017
Summary
Overweight children show distinct brain responses to sweet tastes, unlike healthy-weight peers. This suggests early neural differences in taste processing may contribute to childhood obesity risk.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatric Obesity Research
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern.
- Understanding the neural underpinnings of eating behavior in children is crucial for developing effective interventions.
- Early life neural responses to food may predict later weight status.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neural responses to food taste and cues in healthy weight versus overweight children.
- To explore the relationship between eating behaviors, weight status, and brain activity in young children.
- To assess the feasibility of using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in young children for taste processing studies.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan 18 children (ages 6-8) while they anticipated and tasted a chocolate milkshake.
- Participants were categorized into healthy weight (Body Mass Index [BMI] 5th-85th percentile) and overweight (BMI >85th percentile) groups.
- Parents completed the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire to assess eating behaviors.
Main Results:
- Overweight children exhibited greater brain activation in response to milkshake taste receipt in regions including the right insula, operculum, precentral gyrus, angular gyrus, bilateral precuneus, and posterior cingulate.
- No significant group differences were observed in brain responses to a visual food cue.
- Exploratory analyses indicated interactions between eating behavior self-reports and weight status affecting brain responses to taste.
Conclusions:
- This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of using fMRI to study taste processing in young children.
- Findings suggest potential developmental shifts in taste-related neural responses associated with weight status.
- Altered neural responses to taste in overweight children may indicate underlying mechanisms contributing to unhealthy eating behaviors and obesity risk.
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