Food reinforcement and eating: A multilevel analysis.

Abstract

Eating represents a choice among many alternative behaviors. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of how food reinforcement and behavioral choice theory are related to eating and to show how this theoretical approach may help organize research on eating from molecular genetics through treatment and prevention of obesity. Special emphasis is placed on how food reinforcement and behavioral choice theory are relevant to understanding excess energy intake and obesity and how they provide a framework for examining factors that may influence eating and are outside of those that may regulate energy homeostasis. Methods to measure food reinforcement are reviewed, along with factors that influence the reinforcing value of eating. Contributions of neuroscience and genetics to the study of food reinforcement are illustrated by using the example of dopamine. Implications of food reinforcement for obesity and positive energy balance are explored, with suggestions for novel approaches to obesity treatment based on the synthesis of behavioral and pharmacological approaches to food reinforcement. Keywords food reinforcement; food intake; choice; dopamine; behavioral genetics Choice is ubiquitous. There are many choices that people make that influence their eating and body weight, beginning with how early to get up, to exercise before breakfast or to sleep in, what to have for breakfast, and so on. These choices are made in the context of alternatives, many of which are pleasurable and exert considerable influence to do these behaviors rather than others. The morning is a good time for many people to choose to exercise, but a warm bed and a little extra sleep time represent a powerful alternative that even the most enthusiastic exerciser confronts and often succumbs to. Similarly, eating a good breakfast starts the day off right, but a pastry and coffee may be particularly inviting alternative foods that taste very good and may tempt many away from healthy cereal and fruit. This article provides a theoretical framework for understanding motivation to eat, how people make choices about eating versus engaging in other behaviors, and how these theoretical approaches can provide insights into obesity, mechanisms that regulate food choice, and implications of choice theory for interventions. One of the unique aspects of food reinforcement and behavioral theories of

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“…Parents may use food to comfort the highly soothable infant, which may over time enhance the reinforcing properties of foods. 65,66 Future research should explore such reciprocal behavioral mechanisms. Increased food reward has been linked to obesity status in children and adults.…”

Appetitive traits and child obesity: measurement, origins and implications for intervention

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“…[1][2][3] The high incidence of obesity [4][5][6] has been linked to the consumption of energy-dense palatable foods. [7][8][9] Overweight people may consume more of these foods because they are more reinforcing to them, as suggested by studies finding that overweight and obese people work harder to obtain highcalorie palatable foods than do lean control participants.…”