Can reinforcing alternatives to food prevent weight gain in children?

摘要 食物的强化价值，或者说人们为了获得某种食物而付出的努力，1是一种潜力 儿童和成人体重增加和肥胖的机制。食物的强化价值是跨部门的 与婴儿肥胖相关，2例儿童3和成人肥胖相关，4，与儿童体重增加相关，5 虽然食物强化可以预测体重增加，但并不是每个食物摄入量高的人都能预测体重增加。 增强物增加重量。防止体重增加的一个潜在的保护因素是一个强有力的强化值， 4瘦的孩子发现食物的替代品比食物更有强化作用，而肥胖的孩子 3儿童成长的环境在获得食物方面有所不同， 儿童无法获得各种替代性的教育，如阅读8和乐器。 食品添加剂的替代品可能对那些在低血糖家庭中长大的儿童特别重要。 社会经济地位（SES），他们成为肥胖的风险增加。10 -12我们已经表明，在成年人中， 食物的相对强化价值调节了教育水平或收入水平与 13该补助金的总体目标是研究食物和食物替代品的个体差异 家庭环境的强化是儿童体重增加的风险和保护因素。我们将学习230 6- 在食物强化、父母教育和食物强化替代品方面不同的9岁儿童， 仔细评估家庭环境和闲暇活动。具体目标是检验假设 食品强化和替代食品的独立作用，以及食品的相对平衡， 强化替代替代食品，预测体重增加（具体目标1），家庭环境， 参与、享受和获得各种休闲和体育活动的机会， 与食物替代品的高强化价值有关（具体目标2）， 不健康食品的供应与食品的高强化价值有关（具体目标3）， 强化食物的价值介导了父母教育程度低和风险增加之间的关系。 儿童肥胖症（具体目标4），父母相对强化值的食物预测儿童相对 强化食品的价值（具体目标5）。

ABSTRACT The reinforcing value of food, or how hard someone will work to gain access to a specific food,1 is one potential mechanism for weight gain and obesity in children and adults. The reinforcing value of food is cross-sectionally related to obesity in infants,2 children3 and adults,4 and prospectively related to weight gain in children,5 adolescents6 and adults.7 While food reinforcement predicts weight gain, not everyone high in food reinforcement gains weight. One potential protective factor against weight gain is a strong reinforcing value for alternatives to food.4 Lean children find alternatives to food more reinforcing than food, while obese children find food more reinforcing than alternatives.3 Environments in which children grow up differ in terms of access to a variety of alternative reinforcers, such as reading8 and musical instruments.9 The lack of access to alternatives to food reinforcers may be a particular concern for children who grow up in families with low socioeconomic status (SES), who are at increased risk for becoming obese.10-12 We have shown in adults that the relative reinforcing value of food mediates the relationship between educational level or income level and BMI in adults.13 The overall goal of this grant is to study individual differences in food and alternatives to food reinforcement in the home environment as risk and protective factors for child weight gain. We will study 230 6- 9 year-old children who vary in food reinforcement, parental education and alternatives to food reinforcement, and carefully assess the home environment and leisure time activities. Specific aims are to test the hypotheses that the independent effects of food reinforcement and alternative reinforcers, and the relative balance of food reinforcement to alternative reinforcers, predicts weight gain (Specific Aim 1), that a home environment with opportunities for participation in, enjoyment of and access to a variety of leisure and physical activities is related to high reinforcing value of alternatives to food (Specific Aim 2), that a home environment with greater availability of unhealthy foods is related to high reinforcing value of food (Specific Aim 3), that the relative reinforcing value of food mediates the relationship between low parental education and increased risk of obesity in children (Specific Aim 4), and that parental relative reinforcing value of food predicts child relative reinforcing value of food (Specific Aim 5).