Peer-reviewed article

Food reinforcement as a predictor of child dietary intake during a test meal.

Hannah E Kolpack, Lori A Hatzinger, Jennifer L Temple, Gregory E Wilding, Katherine N Balantekin · 28 Jul 2026

Abstract

Food motivation, herein referred to as the relative reinforcing value of food (RRVFood), refers to how hard an individual will work for a food. RRVFood has been linked to the development and maintenance of overweight/obesity (OW/OB). However, there is little known on the relationships between RRVFood, dietary intake, and weight status within children. The current study aims to assess these relationships in children ages 8-11 who are at risk for OW/OB. Exploratory sex-based differences will also be assessed. Data presented are from the first two sessions of a 7-session longitudinal study. One session consisted of the participants completing a RRV task, which measures RRVFood, and the second session consisted of eating at a buffet-style test meal. Data suggests that participants with OW/OB may not have higher RRVFood in comparison to participants with healthy weight (HW), which opposes previous findings. Secondarily, RRVFood positively predicted total kcal, carbohydrate, and fat intake in the total sample and in participants with HW. While the relationship between RRVFood and energy intake has been established, research on adults did not show similar relationships with carbohydrates and fat. This highlights a potential relationship unique to this age range that could be intervened on as OW/OB prevention. As for the sex differences, boys had higher RRVFood, however RRVFood positively predicted total kcal, carbohydrate, fat, and protein intake in girls only. This reflects a unique relationship not studied thus far. Future work can aim to confirm these relationships in a fully powered study, explore other measures of RRVFood, assess natural-setting dietary intake, and explore variables that may contribute to the sex differences observed in the current study.