McCullough Mary Beth, Guilkey Hayley, Stark Lori
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence, RI 02909, USA.
Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center, Burnet Avenue MLC 7039, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA.
Appetite. 2017 Apr 1;111:187-194. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.01.006. Epub 2017 Jan 8.
The reinforcing value of food is an important determinant of food intake. Research has yet to examine the relative reinforcing value (RRV) of snack foods in young children with overweight and obesity (OW/OB). The current study compared the RRV of high-energy dense foods (cookies) to low-energy dense foods (fruits) between preschoolers with OW/OB and healthy weight (HW). RRV of cookies and fruits in preschoolers with OW/OB (n = 30; M = 4.4 ± 0.84; 60% male) and HW (n = 30; M = 4.5 ± 0.85; 70% male) was assessed with a developmentally-tailored computer program which used a progressive fixed ratio reward schedule. The results showed that the RRV of cookies was significantly higher for preschoolers with OW/OB compared to HW while the RRV of fruits was significantly higher for preschoolers with HW compared to OW/OB. These results suggest that cookies are more reinforcing for preschoolers with OW/OB and less reinforcing for preschoolers with HW. Finding ways to reduce the reinforcing value of high-energy dense snack foods and identify alternatives that are as reinforcing for preschoolers is a challenge for weight control treatments.
食物的强化价值是食物摄入量的一个重要决定因素。目前尚未有研究探讨超重和肥胖（OW/OB）幼儿零食的相对强化价值（RRV）。本研究比较了OW/OB学龄前儿童与健康体重（HW）学龄前儿童中高能量密度食物（饼干）和低能量密度食物（水果）的RRV。采用适合儿童发展阶段的计算机程序评估OW/OB学龄前儿童（n = 30；平均年龄M = 4.4 ± 0.84岁；60%为男性）和HW学龄前儿童（n = 30；平均年龄M = 4.5 ± 0.85岁；70%为男性）对饼干和水果的RRV，该程序采用累进固定比率奖励计划。结果显示，与HW学龄前儿童相比，OW/OB学龄前儿童对饼干的RRV显著更高；而与OW/OB学龄前儿童相比，HW学龄前儿童对水果的RRV显著更高。这些结果表明，饼干对OW/OB学龄前儿童的强化作用更强，而对HW学龄前儿童的强化作用较弱。找到降低高能量密度零食强化价值的方法，并确定对学龄前儿童具有同等强化作用的替代品，是体重控制治疗面临的一项挑战。
