Do social activities substitute for food in youth?
BACKGROUND
Behavioral economics offers a framework to understand choice among alternatives. There is no research on the interrelationship between food and social activity in overweight and non-overweight children.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to test the substitutability of food and social interactions using behavioral economic methods in overweight and non-overweight youth.


METHODS
Fifty-four (24 males and 30 females) overweight and non-overweight youth aged 9 to 11 years old were tested using a behavioral choice paradigm which involved participants responding to earn points exchangeable for food and/or social activity.


RESULTS
Youth substituted food for social activities when the cost of social time with an unfamiliar peer increased (p < 0.05) and substituted food for social activities with an unfamiliar peer when the cost of food increased (p < 0.05). However, when interacting with a friend was the alternative, participants did not substitute food for social interactions.


CONCLUSIONS
Social interactions can serve as a substitute for food in both lean and overweight youth.
Salvy
Sarah-Jeanne
SJ
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Behavioral Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, Farber Hall, Room G56, 3435 Main Street, Building #26, Buffalo, NY 14214-3000, USA. ssalvy@buffalo.edu
Nitecki
Lauren A
LA
Epstein
Leonard H
LH
D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology; D010379:Peer Group; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012925:Social Conformity; D012931:Social Environment; D013851:Thinness / Q000523:psychology