Caloric compensation in preschool children: relationships with body mass and differences by food category

TY - JOUR

T1 - Caloric compensation in preschool children: relationships with body mass and differences by food category

AU - Carnell, Susan

AU - Benson, Leora

AU - Gibson, Edward Leigh

AU - Mais, Lais Amaral

AU - Warkentin, Sarah

PY - 2017/9/1

Y1 - 2017/9/1

N2 - Maintaining a healthy weight may involve compensating for previously consumed calories at subsequent meals. To test whether heavier children demonstrated poorer caloric compensation across a range of conditions, and to explore whether compensation failure was the result of inadequate adjustment of overall intake or specific over-consumption of highly palatable, high energy-density ‘junk’ foods, we administered two compensation tests to a sample of 4-5 y olds. For Test A, preloads varied only in carbohydrate content and were organoleptically indistinguishable (200 ml orange-flavored beverage [0 kcal vs. 200 kcal]). For Test B, the preloads varied substantially in both macronutrient composition and learned gustatory cues to caloric content (200 ml water [0 kcal] vs. 200 ml strawberry milkshake [200 kcal]). Each preload was followed 30 minutes later by a multi-item ad libitum meal containing junk foods (chocolate cookies, cheese-flavored crackers) and core foods (fruits and vegetables, bread rolls, protein foods). Testing took place at the children’s own school under normal lunch-time conditions. Children were weighed and measured. Caloric compensation occurred in both tests, in terms of total, junk and core food intake (RMANOVA, all p<.01). Higher BMI z scores were associated with greater average caloric compensation (r=-.26; p<.05), such that overweight/obese children showed least compensation (41%), children over the 50th centile the next least (59%), and children under the 50th centile (80%) the most. For Test A only, obese/overweight children compensated less well than normal-weight children in terms of junk food intake (RMANOVA preload-by-weight group interaction p<.05), with no effect for core foods. Our results suggest that caloric compensation is consistently poorer in heavier children, and that overweight/obese children’s preferences for junk foods may overwhelm intake regulation mechanisms within meals containing those foods. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. The attached document (embargoed until 19/04/2018) is an author produced version of a paper published in Appetite, uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.04.018. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

AB - Maintaining a healthy weight may involve compensating for previously consumed calories at subsequent meals. To test whether heavier children demonstrated poorer caloric compensation across a range of conditions, and to explore whether compensation failure was the result of inadequate adjustment of overall intake or specific over-consumption of highly palatable, high energy-density ‘junk’ foods, we administered two compensation tests to a sample of 4-5 y olds. For Test A, preloads varied only in carbohydrate content and were organoleptically indistinguishable (200 ml orange-flavored beverage [0 kcal vs. 200 kcal]). For Test B, the preloads varied substantially in both macronutrient composition and learned gustatory cues to caloric content (200 ml water [0 kcal] vs. 200 ml strawberry milkshake [200 kcal]). Each preload was followed 30 minutes later by a multi-item ad libitum meal containing junk foods (chocolate cookies, cheese-flavored crackers) and core foods (fruits and vegetables, bread rolls, protein foods). Testing took place at the children’s own school under normal lunch-time conditions. Children were weighed and measured. Caloric compensation occurred in both tests, in terms of total, junk and core food intake (RMANOVA, all p<.01). Higher BMI z scores were associated with greater average caloric compensation (r=-.26; p<.05), such that overweight/obese children showed least compensation (41%), children over the 50th centile the next least (59%), and children under the 50th centile (80%) the most. For Test A only, obese/overweight children compensated less well than normal-weight children in terms of junk food intake (RMANOVA preload-by-weight group interaction p<.05), with no effect for core foods. Our results suggest that caloric compensation is consistently poorer in heavier children, and that overweight/obese children’s preferences for junk foods may overwhelm intake regulation mechanisms within meals containing those foods. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. The attached document (embargoed until 19/04/2018) is an author produced version of a paper published in Appetite, uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.04.018. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

KW - Food choice

KW - Compensation

KW - Energy density

KW - Adiposity

KW - Child obesity

KW - Body weight

U2 - 10.1016/j.appet.2017.04.018

DO - 10.1016/j.appet.2017.04.018

M3 - Article

SN - 0195-6663

VL - 116

SP - 82

EP - 89

JO - APPETITE

JF - APPETITE

IS - 1

ER -