Information processing of food cues in overweight and normal weight adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
Based on cognitive theory (CT), the aim of this study is to investigate the cognitive processing of food cues in clinically overweight adolescents.


METHODS
An experimental design with performance-based measures.


METHODS
Eighty-seven (45 overweight, 42 normal weight) adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years were examined. All completed an imbedded word task (IWT), containing high caloric food words and matched control words, as a measure of attention interference. A free-recall task was used to detect explicit memory biases. To study the effects of cognitive avoidance, participants were instructed to suppress thoughts about food or merely to monitor them, prior to completing the IWT and memory task.


RESULTS
No evidence was found for interference in the attention processing of food cues. Also, no effects of thought suppression were found. However, consistent with hypotheses, the overweight adolescents did show an explicit memory bias for food stimuli, not due to a more general negative evaluation of food words.


CONCLUSIONS
The results provide at least partial support for the applicability of CT to adolescent obesity. The study was the first to reveal a memory bias for high caloric food cues in overweight youngsters, which may well reflect a later-stage activation of food-related schemata. These may play a role in food-related preoccupations and overeating. The existence of an early-stage attention bias is less clear and requires further investigation.
Soetens
Barbara
B
Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium. Barbara.Soetens@Lessius.eu
Braet
Caroline
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D003463:Cues; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D011582:Psychological Theory