Relation of Consummatory and Anticipatory Food Reward to Obesity
Condition: Weight Gain; Food Habits
MeSH terms: Weight Gain
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Obesity is associated with increased risk for mortality, atherosclerotic cerebrovascular
      disease, coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, gallbladder
      disease, and diabetes mellitus, resulting in over 111,000 deaths annually in the United
      States ). In the US, 65% of adults are overweight or obese. Unfortunately, the treatment of
      choice for obesity (behavioral weight loss treatment) only results in a 10% reduction in body
      weight on average and most patients regain this weight within a few years. Further, most
      obesity prevention programs do not reduce risk for future weight gain. The limited success of
      treatment and prevention interventions may be due to an incomplete understanding of the
      processes that increase risk for obesity. Recent data suggest that obese adults show
      abnormalities in reward from food intake and anticipated food intake relative to lean adults,
      but the precise nature of these abnormalities is unclear and it has not been established
      whether these abnormalities predate obesity onset or are a consequence. It is vital to
      elucidate risk factors for obesity onset to advance understanding of etiological processes
      and determine the content of prevention and treatment programs.

      The goals of this study are to (1) determine whether adolescents at high-risk for obesity, by
      virtue of having two obese parents, show abnormalities in reward from food intake
      (consummatory food reward) and anticipated reward from food intake (anticipatory food reward)
      compared to adolescents who are at low-risk for obesity, (2) determine whether abnormalities
      in consummatory and anticipatory food reward increase risk for weight gain and obesity onset,
      (3) examine moderators that may amplify the relations of consummatory and anticipatory food
      reward to unhealthy weight gain, and (4) examine changes in consummatory and anticipatory
      food reward in those participants who show obesity onset relative to those not showing
      obesity onset. Each of these goals is described in more detail below.
    


Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Participants will be 140 lean adolescents at risk for obesity (by virtue of having two
        obese parents) and 40 lean adolescents with two lean parents. Participants will range in
        age from 14-16 and be recruited from high schools.
      
Biospecimen description: 
      All DNA samples will be stored at the Sequencing and Genomics lab of the University of
      Colorado. Only authorized staff will have access to remove the DNA samples for analysis. The
      DNA samples will be analyzed in this lab using standard DNA procedures. Data will be kept on
      the password protected server for a period of six months. After six months, the data will be
      destroyed. The DNA samples will be stored with a unique identification number, connected to a
      code list accessed only by our research team. Once the analysis has been completed, the
      saliva sample will be destroyed by soaking it in bleach. This will remove all DNA. In
      addition, by the end of the study the code list connecting subject numbers with DNA numbers
      will be destroyed. No individual samples, analyzed results, or any other individual data will
      be shared with other researchers.