Inducing Children's Emotional Eating

University of Birmingham64 enrolled

Overview

Background: Children's emotional eating is related to greater BMI and less healthy diet but little is known about the early development of this behavior. Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationships between preschool children's emotional eating and parental feeding practices using experimental manipulation of child mood and food intake in a laboratory setting. Design: 25 3-5 year old children and their mothers sat together and ate a standard meal to satiety. Mothers completed questionnaires about their feeding practices. Children were assigned to a control or negative mood condition. Children's consumption of snack foods in the absence of hunger was measured.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Emotional Eating Behaviour

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 3 YearsMax age: 5 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Child age between 3 years and 5 years * No disease/disorder affecting eating * No learning disability Exclusion Criteria: * Any child brought in by a (non-primary care-giving) grandparent * Child BMI at extreme of sample * Incongruous mood shift to condition * Child of non-english speaking/reading parent

Locations (1)

School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University

Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

eating in the absence of hunger

Child's consumption of kcal from snack foods in the absence of hunger

Time frame: @ 60 minutes into study, at ~4 years of age

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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