A nudge in a healthier direction: How environmental cues help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal

Stämpfli, Aline E.; Stöckli, Sabrina; Brunner, Thomas A.

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2016.11.037

Cited by 31 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…Dieters may be particularly sensitive to the presence of calorie information because of their concern for restraining caloric intake. In lab studies, dieters eat fewer high-fat and unhealthy foods when their self-regulatory goals are primed by the surrounding context—e.g., by presence of a mirror [ 42 ] or thin human-like sculptures [ 43 ]. In fact, calorie labels more strongly influence dieters’ food choices [ 7 ] and how much they eat [ 44 ], even if the calorie information they receive is incorrect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calorie information and dieting status modulate reward and control activation during the evaluation of food images

et al. 2018

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Several public health departments throughout North America have responded to the obesity epidemic by mandating that restaurants publish calories at the point of purchase—with the intention of encouraging healthier food decisions. To help determine whether accompanying calorie information successfully changes a food’s appetitive value, this study investigated the influence of calorie information on brain responses to food images. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, dieting (N = 22) and non-dieting (N = 20) participants viewed pictures of food with and without calorie information and rated their desire to eat the food. When food images were paired with calorie information, not only did self-reported desire to eat the food decrease, but reward system activation (Neurosynth-defined from the term “food”) decreased and control system activation (the fronto-parietal [FP] control system) increased. Additionally, a parametric modulation of reward activation by food preferences was attenuated in the context of calorie information. Finally, whole brain multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) revealed patterns of activation in a region of the reward system—the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)—that were more similar for food images presented with and without calorie information in dieting than non-dieting participants, suggesting that dieters may spontaneously consider calorie information when viewing food. Taken together, these results suggest that calorie information may alter brain responses to food cues by simultaneously reducing reward system activation and increasing control system activation. Moreover, individuals with greater experience or stronger motivations to consider calorie information (i.e., dieters) may more naturally do so, as evidenced by a greater degree of representational similarity between food images with and without calorie information. Combining an awareness of calories with the motivation to control them may more effectively elicit diet-related behavior change.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calorie information and dieting status modulate reward and control activation during the evaluation of food images

et al. 2018

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“…All used between-subject designs except for two which used within-subject designs [ 13 , 23 ]. Eight studies were conducted in the USA [ 14 , 19 , 26 , 32 , 40 – 42 ], four in the UK [ 12 , 13 , 20 , 23 ], three in Canada [ 18 , 21 , 30 ], three in the Netherlands [ 15 , 16 , 27 ], three in Switzerland [ 9 , 11 , 43 ] two in Australia [ 10 , 29 ], two in New Zealand [ 22 , 28 ] and one in France [ 44 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Authors of eligible studies were contacted to request for other published or unpublished studies to minimise publication bias. This resulted in two articles [ 11 , 22 ] and one unpublished study being identified [ 23 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to The Goal Conflict Theory, such effects will be more pronounced in individuals who hold relevant weight control goals [ 8 ]. In support, laboratory studies have reported that compared to control cues, exposure to weight control cues have reduced subsequent food intake in general samples [ 9 , 10 ] and in individuals with strong weight control goals such as restrained eaters [ 11 ] and dieters [ 12 , 13 ]. Other studies have reported that the effects of weight control cues are moderated by particular settings such as the time of day (effects in general sample) [ 14 ] and portion size (effects in restrained eaters only) [ 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Priming food intake with weight control cues: systematic review with a meta-analysis

Buckland

Redpath

et al. 2018

Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act

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BackgroundA growing number of studies suggest that exposure to cues which are associated with weight control can prime or prompt controlled food intake in tempting food environments. However, findings are mixed and understanding which types of cues and for whom such cues may be most effective is needed to inform subsequent research and societal applications. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate the effects of exposure to weight control cues compared with control cues on food intake.MethodsPsycINFO, Medline, Embase and Web of Science were searched using key terms. Hedge’s g was used to calculate effect sizes based on mean food intake, standard deviations and sample sizes extracted from relevant publications and, a random effects model was used for the meta-analysis.ResultsTwenty-five articles consisting of 26 studies were eligible. Data from 25 studies (31 effect sizes) were available for the meta-analysis. Overall, weight control cues reduced food intake, albeit to a trivial effect (ES: -0.149, 95% CI: -0.271 to − 0.027). Subgroup analyses when studies which induced negative affect were removed showed that for individuals with strong weight control goals the effect was small-to-moderate (ES: -0.440, 95% CI: -0.718 to − 0.163), whereas for individuals with weak weight control goals this effect was trivial and non-significant (ES: 0.014, 95% CI: -0.249 to 0.278). Cue type and level of engagement did not significantly moderate the effect; however, specific cues (low-calorie foods and thin models) and attended engagement yielded significant effects. Caution is needed interpreting these findings as most studies were rated with high risk of bias and a number of studies could not be included in the subgroup analyses.ConclusionsBased on the data available, weight control cues reduce food intake in individuals with strong weight control goals. Further research is needed to explore longer term effects of cue exposure and confirm underlying mechanisms. PROSPERO registry#CRD42016052396.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12966-018-0698-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Postprandial appetite and satiety assessments were not completed during the free-living, ad libitum testing day for the following reasons. On the basis of the impact of external or environmental cues on ingestive behavior ( 23 ), it is possible that the continual acknowledgment of one's perceived hunger or fullness state (every 10–30 min throughout the day) might alter subsequent food intake. Thus, we chose to reduce any effects of appetitive cues and to assimilate the free-living environment typically void of these types of questions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of Protein Quantity and Protein Distribution across the Day on Ad Libitum Carbohydrate and Fat Intake in Overweight Women

Gwin

Maki

Alwattar

et al. 2017

Current Developments in Nutrition

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Background: The effects of meal-specific protein quantity and protein distribution throughout the day on daily food intake are relatively unknown. Objectives: The aims were to test 1) whether the consumption of higher-protein (HP) compared with normal-protein (NP) meals consumed at each eating occasion reduce free-living, daily carbohydrate and fat intakes in overweight women during energy balance conditions and 2) whether the distribution of protein consumed throughout the day affects food intake outcomes. Methods: Seventeen women [mean ± SEM age: 33 ± 1 y; body mass index (in kg/m2): 27.8 ± 0.1] completed the following tightly controlled, crossover design study. Participants were provided with and randomly consumed three 6-d eucaloric diets containing NP or HP (15% or 25% of energy as protein, respectively). The protein content within the NP diet used an even distribution pattern (EVEN; 21 ± 1 g protein/meal) throughout the day, whereas the protein contents within the HP diets used either EVEN (35 ± 1 g protein/meal) or an uneven distribution pattern (UNEVEN; 19 ± 1 g protein/breakfast, 26 ± 1 g protein/lunch, 63 g protein/dinner). On day 7 of each diet, the participants were asked to consume the diet-specific absolute protein quantity (in grams) at each eating occasion but were provided with a surplus of carbohydrate- and fat-rich foods to consume, ad libitum, during each eating occasion. Results: Eating more protein (HP compared with NP) or evenly distributing protein throughout the day (HP-EVEN compared with HP-UNEVEN) did not reduce the consumption of ad libitum fat- and carbohydrate-rich foods throughout the day (NP-EVEN: 2850 ± 240 kcal/d; HP-EVEN: 2910 ± 240 kcal/d; HP-UNEVEN: 3160 ± 200 kcal/d). Despite the lack of differences in daily energy intake, the breakfast meal within the HP-EVEN diet led to lower ad libitum carbohydrate and fat intakes than the breakfast meals in the NP-EVEN and HP-UNEVEN diet conditions (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Providing 30 g protein/meal at each eating occasion throughout the day did not influence free-living, daily intake of highly palatable, carbohydrate- and fat-rich foods in overweight women. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02614729.

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A nudge in a healthier direction: How environmental cues help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal

Cited by 31 publications

References 49 publications

Calorie information and dieting status modulate reward and control activation during the evaluation of food images

Calorie information and dieting status modulate reward and control activation during the evaluation of food images

Priming food intake with weight control cues: systematic review with a meta-analysis

Examination of Protein Quantity and Protein Distribution across the Day on Ad Libitum Carbohydrate and Fat Intake in Overweight Women

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