title: Food reinforcement, dietary disinhibition and weight gain in nonobese adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Food reinforcement is cross-sectionally related to BMI and energy intake in adults, and prospectively predicts weight gain in children, but there has not been any research studying food reinforcement as a predictor of adult weight gain.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study examined whether the relative reinforcing value of food versus sedentary activities, as measured on a progressive ratio schedule, predicts 12-month weight gain in a sample of 115 nonobese (BMI < 30) adults. Dietary disinhibition and dietary restraint were also examined as potential moderators of this relationship.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In a hierarchical regression controlling for baseline age and weight, dietary hunger, income, sex, and minority status, food reinforcement and predicted weight gain (P = 0.01) significantly increased the variance from 6.3% to 11.7% (P = 0.01). Dietary disinhibition moderated this relationship (P = 0.02) and increased the variance an additional 4.7% (P = 0.02), such that individuals with high food reinforcement had greater weight gain if they were also high in disinhibition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that food reinforcement is a significant contributor to weight change over time, and food reinforcement may have the biggest effect on those who are most responsive to food cues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Katelyn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Kelly D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Leonard H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Epstein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015430:Weight Gain; D055815:Young Adult