NCT07266506

Development of an Eating Behavior Risk Score

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 420 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Penn State University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 7 Years – 9 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study will explore how children's eating behaviors are connected to brain activity and body fat levels. Researchers are especially interested in a behavior pattern called the PACE phenotype, which includes how much children eat when offered large portions, how quickly they eat, their appetite traits, and their ability to control eating. The goal is to better understand why some children are more likely to gain weight than others. The study will include children between the ages of 7 and 9 and will follow them for one year. Researchers will use brain scans, lab-based meal observations, and questionnaires to study how children respond to food and how their eating patterns relate to body fat at the start of the study and one year later. The study will also look at how family background, parenting, and other factors might protect some children from gaining excess weight even if they show risky eating behaviors. Results may help identify which children are most at risk for obesity and guide future strategies for prevention.

Detailed description

This is a one-year observational study designed to better understand how certain eating behaviors in children relate to brain function and weight gain over time. These behaviors will be assessed using a combination of laboratory meal tasks, caregiver questionnaires, and behavioral coding. Children will be invited to six research visits-four at the beginning of the study and two 12 months later-during which they will participate in structured meals where portion sizes are adjusted, complete computer-based and paper assessments, and undergo brain imaging while viewing pictures of food. Body composition will be measured at both timepoints using a DXA scan. In addition, researchers will collect information on children's sleep, physical activity, executive function, dietary intake, and interoceptive awareness. Parents will be asked to complete surveys about their family's socioeconomic background, food security, feeding practices, and their child's behavior, temperament, and development. One of the study's goals is to examine how brain regions involved in appetite regulation and self-control respond to food cues in children with different PACE scores. Another goal is to determine whether children with higher PACE scores tend to have more body fat and whether those scores predict changes in body fat over one year. The study will also explore whether children from families with higher or lower socioeconomic status show different patterns of risk. Finally, researchers will use a machine learning approach to identify children who seem resilient to weight gain, despite having high-risk eating patterns, and to better understand what family or individual characteristics might explain that resilience.

Conditions

• Obesity
• Childhood

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Assessment of PACE Eating Phenotype and Related Behavioral and Neurobiological Measures	This study does not involve an active intervention. The exposures of interest include the children's eating behaviors as measured by the PACE phenotype score, which encompasses portion size responsiveness, appetite traits, loss of control eating, and eating rate. Brain responses to food cues assessed by fMRI, body composition measured by DXA, and family socioeconomic status will also be evaluated as key exposures. These measures will be collected at baseline and at 12-month follow-up to examine associations with adiposity and behavioral outcomes.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-07-01
• Primary completion: 2031-06-30
• Completion: 2032-06-30
• First posted: 2025-12-05
• Last updated: 2025-12-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States