title: Crave, Like, Eat: Determinants of Food Intake in a Sample of Children and Adolescents with a Wide Range in Body Mass.
abstract: Obesity is a heterogeneous condition with obese individuals displaying different eating patterns. Growing evidence suggests that there is a subgroup of obese adults that is marked by frequent and intense food cravings and addiction-like consumption of high-calorie foods. Little is known, however, about such a subgroup of obese individuals in childhood and adolescence. In the present study, a sample of children and adolescents with a wide range in body mass was investigated and trait food craving, liking for and intake of high- and low-calorie foods was measured. One-hundred and forty-two children and adolescents (51.4% female,n= 73;Mage= 13.7 years,SD= 2.25;MBMI-SDS= 1.26,SD= 1.50) completed theFood Cravings Questionnaire-Trait, then viewed pictures of high- and low-calorie foods and rated their liking for them, and subsequently consumed some of these foods in a bogus taste test. Contrary to expectations, higher body mass was associated with lower consumption of high-calorie foods. However, there was an interaction between body mass and trait food craving when predicting food consumption: in obese participants, higher trait food craving was associated with higher consumption of high-calorie foods and this association was not found in normal-weight participants. The relationship between trait food craving and high-calorie food consumption within obese individuals was mediated by higher liking for high-calorie foods (but not by liking for low-calorie foods). Thus, similar to adults, a subgroup of obese children and adolescents - characterized by high trait food craving - seems to exist, calling for specific targeted treatment strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria; Department of Pediatrics, Paracelsus Medical UniversitySalzburg, Austria; Obesity Research Unit, Paracelsus Medical UniversitySalzburg, Austria; Obesity Academy AustriaSalzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meule
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reichenberger
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Paracelsus Medical UniversitySalzburg, Austria; Obesity Research Unit, Paracelsus Medical UniversitySalzburg, Austria; Obesity Academy AustriaSalzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weghuber
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria; Obesity Academy AustriaSalzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ardelt-Gattinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria; Obesity Academy AustriaSalzburg, Austria; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of SalzburgSalzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blechert
keywords: BMI; childhood obesity; food craving; food intake; food liking; food pictures