Psychological Mechanisms Linking Food Insecurity and Obesity

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The current pilot study will examine emergent hypotheses by investigating the role of psychological mechanisms in the relationship between food insecurity and obesity. This objective will be achieved via a cross-sectional, observational pilot study collecting quantitative and qualitative data.

Detailed Description
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This pilot study will investigate an emergent risk factor for obesity: food insecurity, which is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods. While paradoxically linked, numerous studies have shown a significant association between food insecurity and obesity. Moreover, recent narrative works have developed new, untested hypotheses linking food insecurity and obesity positing the causal role of psychological mechanisms. Given this, this mixed method pilot study will collect new psychological data in a sample of food secure and food insecure adults with and without obesity to examine the connections between food insecurity, body weight, and psychological constructs. The overarching objective of the study is to gather pilot data to identify potentially new intervention targets that will be used in future studies to more rigorously investigate the relationship between food insecurity and obesity.

Official Title
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Psychological Mechanisms Linking Food Insecurity and Obesity (Food Mind Pilot Study)

Conditions
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Obesity, Psychological

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Age 18-49 years BMI ≥ 20.0 kg/m2 Able to read and write using the English language Willing to provide written informed consent Exclusion Criteria: Pregnancy

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 49 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Delay Discounting | Assessed via the 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire, which measures bias toward smaller, immediate rewards versus larger, delayed rewards. This questionnaire presents participants with a set of 27 choices between smaller, immediate monetary rewards and larger, delayed monetary rewards. Participants who discount the value of the delayed rewards more steeply are considered to be more impulsive. An estimate of a participant's discounting rate (k) is calculated from the pattern of choices. Values of k range from 0.00016 (ln transformation -8.74) to 0.25 (ln transformation -1.39), with higher values indicating a greater preference for smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. K tends to be skewed, so a natural log (ln) transformation is utilized to approximate a normal distribution for statistical analyses. | Through study completion, an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes at Study Visit 1 | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grit | Assessed using the 8-item Short Grit Scale, which measures trait-level perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Scores range from 1 (not at all gritty) to 5 (extremely gritty). | Through study completion, an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes at Study Visit 1 | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Food Insecurity