title: An exploration of salivation patterns in normal weight and obese children.
abstract: We examined whether children's changes in salivary habituation to food vary based on weight status and/or allocating attention to a task. Children (31 non-overweight and 26 obese, ages 9-12 year) were presented with nine trials of a food stimulus and either listened to an audiobook (attention-demanding) or white noise (no-attention control). The salivary pattern differed significantly by weight status but not by condition or a condition by weight status interaction. This is the first study of salivary habituation in obese children; findings dovetail with an emerging set of evidence that obese individuals display distinctive biological responses to food.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Vandana.aspen@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Vandana A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Aspen
authors.forename: Richard I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Denise E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Wilfley
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001288:Attention; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D005502:Food; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012472:Salivation / Q000502:physiology*