Food for Thought: Executive Functioning Around Eating Among Children

NCT06108128 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: R21HD109362
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 125
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Scientific knowledge of the cognitive-developmental processes that serve to support children's appetite self-regulation are surprisingly limited. This investigation will provide new scientific directions for obesity prevention by elucidating cognitive-developmental influences on young children's ability to make healthy food choices and eat in moderation.

Conditions

Self-regulation; Appetitive Behavior; Eating Behavior; Child Obesity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Food choice

  Children's forced-choice selection of fruits, vegetables, and water over alternatives at a meal

  Assessed at 1 of 2 study visits over 2 weeks

• Eating in the absence of hunger

  Children's intake of palatable foods following a standard meal

  Assessed at 1 of 2 study visits over 2 weeks

• Body mass index z-score

  Age and sex specific z-score using CDC reference data

  Assessed at 1 of 2 study visits over 2 weeks

Interventions

Executive functioning observational tasks OTHER

Interventions take place solely at the measurement level, where children will be seen in observational tasks of general executive functioning and executive functioning around eating in which various food and non-food stimuli are presented and children's responses to task instructions are recorded.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 4 Years - 6 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Child ages 4 to 6 years of age
• Caregiver reporting primary responsibility for child feeding outside of childcare
• Caregiver legal guardian

You may not qualify if:

• Caregiver \<18 years of age
• Child major food allergies
• Child medication use, developmental disability, or medical conditions known to affect food intake and/or growth; color blindness
• Child in foster care

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Temple University: lead
• Baylor College of Medicine: collaborator
• University of Nevada, Reno: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Temple University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19140, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Russell CG, Russell A. "Food" and "non-food" self-regulation in childhood: a review and reciprocal analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020 Mar 10;17(1):33. doi: 10.1186/s12966-020-00928-5.

  PMID: 32151265 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Self-Control; Appetitive Behavior; Feeding Behavior; Pediatric Obesity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior; Behavior, Animal; Obesity; Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Jennifer O Fisher, PHD

  Temple University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Christina Croce, MS

CONTACT

215-707-8672; christina.croce@temple.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: This is an observational cross-sectional study with interventions ONLY at the measurement level. The research assistant administers the tasks and records the outcomes; therefore, no masking is used.
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Model Details: This is an observational, cross-sectional study that involves interventions ONLY at the measurement level.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 24, 2023
• First Posted: October 30, 2023
• Study Start: October 5, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2025
• Study Completion: December 31, 2025
• Last Updated: April 10, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

US (1)