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The proposed research will follow healthy weight children who vary by family risk for obesity to identify the neurobiological and appetitive traits that are implicated in overeating and weight gain during the critical pre-adolescent period. The investigator's central hypothesis is that increased intake from large portions of energy dense foods is due in part to reduced activity in brain regions implicated in inhibitory control and decision making, combined with increased activity in reward processing pathways. To test this hypothesis, the investigators will recruit 120 healthy weight children, aged 7-8 years, at two levels of obesity risk (i.e., 60 high-risk and 60 low-risk) based on parent weight status. This will result in 240 participants: 120 children and their parents.
In aim one, the investigators will use functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize the brain regions which are activated in response to food portion size and compare these regions between high- and low-risk children.
Second, the investigators will determine the relationship between brain response to visual portion size cues and measured food intake when portions are increased in the laboratory.
Third, the investigators will determine the relationship between brain response to large portions and other validated measures of overeating, including satiety responsiveness and the amount of calories children consumed from high calorie snacks when they are not hungry (i.e., eating in the absence of hunger).
Fourth, the investigators will conduct follow-up visits one year after baseline to determine the extent to which baseline brain and behavioral responses to portion size predict gains in adiposity assessed by anthropometrics (body weight, height, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry).
Secondary study endpoints include the relationship between child behavioral and brain response to food portion size and physical activity assessed by accelerometry and questionnaires, inhibitory control assessed by a stop signal test, reward-related design making assessed by a computer task, working memory assessed by an N-back task loss of control eating, child sleep, child working memory, child meal microstructure assessed by observational meal coding, parent rated eating behaviors, and parental feeding practices.
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| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-risk of obesity | Children whose biological mother and biological father have a body mass index between 18.5 - 25 kg/m2. | ||
| High-risk of obesity | Children whose biological mother has a body mass index greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 and whose biological father have a body mass index greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2. |
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| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Brain Responses to Portion Size | The investigators will use functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize the brain regions which are activated in response to food portion size and compare these regions between high- and low-risk children. | baseline |
| Food Intake Relationship to Portion Size | The investigators will determine the relationship between brain response to visual portion size cues and measured food intake when portions are increased in laboratory meals. | baseline |
| The Change in DXA analysis of child adiposity after 1 year | The investigators will determine the extent to which baseline brain and behavioral responses to portion size predict gains in adiposity assessed by anthropometrics (body weight, height, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry). Body weight (kg) and Height (m) will be aggregated to report BMI in kg/m^2. | From baseline visit to 1 year later |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Brain Response Relationships | The investigators will determine the relationship between brain response to large portions and other validated measures of overeating, including satiety responsiveness and the amount of calories children consumed from high calorie snacks when they are not hungry (i.e., eating in the absence of hunger). | baseline |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Activity | An additional endpoint include the relationship between child behavioral and brain response to food portion size and physical activity assessed by accelerometry. | baseline |
| Loss of control eating |
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
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Parents and their 7-8 year old children in Centre County, Pennsylvania and surrounding areas.
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| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Kathleen L Keller, Ph.D. | Penn State University | Principal Investigator |
| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Pennsylvania State University | University Park | Pennsylvania | 16802 | United States |
| PubMed Identifier | Type | Citation | Retractions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21999692 | Background | Burger KS, Stice E. Variability in reward responsivity and obesity: evidence from brain imaging studies. Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2011 Sep;4(3):182-9. doi: 10.2174/1874473711104030182. | |
| 21291906 | Background | Bruce AS, Martin LE, Savage CR. Neural correlates of pediatric obesity. Prev Med. 2011 Jun;52 Suppl 1:S29-35. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.018. Epub 2011 Feb 1. |
| Label | URL |
|---|---|
| Dr. Kathleen Keller's current research | View source |
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De-identified data will be shared with other investigators by special request made by email to the PI (Kathleen L. Keller klk37@psu.edu). For investigators who request use of the data, we will request acknowledgement of our research group and Penn State University in any public presentation of the results obtained from this study.
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| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D063766 | Pediatric Obesity |
| D007266 | Inhibition, Psychological |
| D009765 | Obesity |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D050177 | Overweight |
| D044343 | Overnutrition |
| D009748 | Nutrition Disorders |
| D009750 | Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases |
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| Inhibitory control assessed by a Stop Signal test | An additional endpoint includes the relationship between child behavioral and brain response to food portion size and Inhibitory control assessed by a Stop Signal test. | baseline |
| Reward-related design | Reward-related design making assessed by a computer task. | baseline and 1 year later |
| Working memory | Working memory assessed by an N-back task. | baseline and 1 year later |
| Meal microstructure | Meal microstructure assessed by observational meal coding. | baseline and 1 year later |
| Eating in the absence of hunger | Assessing child eating in the absence of hunger by buffet meal intake. | baseline and 1 year later |
An additional endpoint include the relationship between child behavioral and brain response to food portion size and Loss of control eating.
| baseline |
| Parent-described eating behaviors | An additional endpoint includes the relationship between child behavioral and brain response to food portion size and Parent-described eating behaviors. | baseline |
| 22719753 | Background | De Silva A, Salem V, Matthews PM, Dhillo WS. The use of functional MRI to study appetite control in the CNS. Exp Diabetes Res. 2012;2012:764017. doi: 10.1155/2012/764017. Epub 2012 May 8. |
| 24510841 | Background | French SA, Mitchell NR, Wolfson J, Harnack LJ, Jeffery RW, Gerlach AF, Blundell JE, Pentel PR. Portion size effects on weight gain in a free living setting. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014 Jun;22(6):1400-5. doi: 10.1002/oby.20720. Epub 2014 Feb 19. |
| 24631799 | Background | Grammer JK, Carrasco M, Gehring WJ, Morrison FJ. Age-related changes in error processing in young children: a school-based investigation. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2014 Jul;9:93-105. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2014.02.001. Epub 2014 Feb 11. |
| Background | Morrell, J. (1999). The Infant Sleep Questionnaire: A new tool to assess infant sleep problems for clinical and research purposes. Child Psychology and Psychiatry Review 4, 20-26. |
| 19501758 | Background | Tetley A, Brunstrom J, Griffiths P. Individual differences in food-cue reactivity. The role of BMI and everyday portion-size selections. Appetite. 2009 Jun;52(3):614-620. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2009.02.005. Epub 2009 Feb 25. |
| Background | Tanner, J.M. (1962). Growth at adolescence.(Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications). |
| 41112744 | Derived | Bhat YR, Keller KL, Brick TR, Pearce AL. ByteTrack: a deep learning approach for bite count and bite rate detection using meal videos in children. Front Nutr. 2025 Oct 3;12:1610363. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1610363. eCollection 2025. |
| 40010570 | Derived | Neuwald NV, Pearce AL, Cunningham PM, Setzenfand MN, Koczwara L, Rolls BJ, Keller KL. Food switching at a meal is positively associated with change in adiposity among children at high-familial risk for obesity. Appetite. 2025 Apr 1;208:107915. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2025.107915. Epub 2025 Feb 25. |
| 39393498 | Derived | Bhat YR, Rolls BJ, Wilson SJ, Rose E, Geier CF, Fuchs B, Garavan H, Keller KL. Eating in the Absence of Hunger Is a Stable Predictor of Adiposity Gains in Middle Childhood. J Nutr. 2024 Dec;154(12):3726-3739. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.10.008. Epub 2024 Oct 10. |
| 38795747 | Derived | Keller KL, Pearce AL, Fuchs B, Rolls BJ, Wilson SJ, Geier CF, Rose E, Garavan H. PACE: a Novel Eating Behavior Phenotype to Assess Risk for Obesity in Middle Childhood. J Nutr. 2024 Jul;154(7):2176-2187. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.05.019. Epub 2024 May 23. |
| 38548135 | Derived | Neuwald NV, Pearce AL, Cunningham PM, Koczwara L, Setzenfand MN, Rolls BJ, Keller KL. Switching between foods is reliably associated with intake across eating events in children. Appetite. 2024 Jun 1;197:107325. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107325. Epub 2024 Mar 26. |
| Dr. Stephen Wilson's current research | View source |
| D001835 |
| Body Weight |
| D012816 | Signs and Symptoms |
| D013568 | Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms |
| D001519 | Behavior |