title: Relative reinforcing value of energy-dense snack foods in overweight and obese adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obese people find energy-dense food more reinforcing than do their non-obese peers, and reinforcement influences food intake. We examined how the degree of adiposity, measured by body mass index (BMI), is associated with the relative reinforcing value of energy-dense snack foods versus fruits and vegetables in overweight and obese people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-two overweight or obese students in introductory psychology courses completed questionnaires on age, sex, BMI, hunger, smoking status, dietary restraint, and hedonic (liking) ratings for energy-dense snack foods and fruits and vegetables. The questionnaire also was used to evaluate the relative reinforcing value of these snack foods in comparison with fruits and vegetables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The BMI predicted the relative reinforcing value of energy-dense snack food. This positive relationship remained significant after we controlled for age, sex, dietary restraint, hunger, smoking status, and snack food hedonics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The greater the degree of overweight and obesity, the greater the motivation to obtain energy-dense snack foods. Because the rewarding value of food is a strong determinant of energy intake, a useful approach to preventing and treating obesity may be introducing pharmacological or behavioural nutrition intervention to reduce the rewarding value of energy-dense snack foods, or increasing the rewarding value of fruits and vegetables.
authors.affiliation: Healthy Active Living & Obesity Research, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Gary S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Goldfield
authors.forename: Andrew B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Lumb
authors.forename: Cynthia K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Colapinto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology*; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology