Eating on impulse: The relation between overweight and food‐specific inhibitory control

Objective Consistent with the idea that impulsivity increases vulnerability to temptations of tasty high caloric food, less effective response inhibition is associated with overeating, overweight, and obesity. However, inefficient response inhibition mainly affects eating behavior when strong motiva...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Md.), 2014-05, Vol.22 (5), p.E6-E8
Main Authors: Houben, Katrijn, Nederkoorn, Chantal, Jansen, Anita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Body Mass Index
Child psychology
Diet, Reducing
Eating - psychology
Feeding Behavior - psychology
Female
Food Preferences - psychology
Humans
Hyperactivity
Hyperphagia - psychology
Impulsive Behavior
Motivation
Obesity
Overweight - prevention & control
Taste - physiology
Weight control
Weight Loss
Young Adult
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Summary:Objective Consistent with the idea that impulsivity increases vulnerability to temptations of tasty high caloric food, less effective response inhibition is associated with overeating, overweight, and obesity. However, inefficient response inhibition mainly affects eating behavior when strong motivational urges to consume palatable food are simultaneously present. This study, therefore, examined whether overweight is associated specifically with inefficient response inhibition of food‐related responses rather than with a general response inhibition deficiency. Methods Eighty‐seven female participants (age: M = 26.17, SD = 10.9; body mass index (BMI: kg/m2): M = 22.28, SD = 4.34, range 13.86‐39.86) performed both a Stop‐Signal task with general stimuli to measure general response inhibition ability, and a Stop‐Signal task with food‐related pictures to measure ability to inhibit responses to food pictures. Results As expected, a higher BMI was associated with decreased inhibitory control over food‐related responses. There was no association between BMI and general response inhibition. Conclusions Overweight is not characterized by a general tendency to react impulsively, but instead by impulsive responding toward palatable food. The implication is that weight loss interventions need to focus on decreasing food‐specific impulsivity rather than on reducing general impulsivity.
ISSN:1930-7381
1930-739X
DOI:10.1002/oby.20670