Poor ability to regulate one's own food intake based on hunger cues may encourage children to eat beyond satiety, leading to increased risk of diet-related diseases. Self-regulation has multiple forms, yet no one has directly measured the degree to which different domains of self-regulation predict overeating in young children. The present study investigated how three domains of self-regulation (i.e., appetitive self-regulation, inhibitory control, and attentional control) predicted eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) in a community sample of 47 preschool-aged children (M age = 4.93, SD = 0.86). Appetitive self-regulation, as measured using a delay of gratification task, was significantly and negatively associated with EAH 1 year later (p < 0.5). Measures of inhibitory and attentional control did not significantly predict EAH. These results suggest that food-related self-regulation may be a better predictor of overeating behaviors than general measures of self-regulation.

The aim of this study was to identify longitudinal trajectories of conjoint development of executive function (EF) and obesity among a diverse sample of poor, rural youth and to evaluate individual differences in infant growth, parental BMI, and cumulative risk. Methods: Participants included 948 youth from the Family Life Project. Child anthropometrics were measured at 2 and 6 months and at 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 12 years. EF tasks were administered at 3, 4, and 5 years. Mothers reported youth birth weight, parental height and weight, and cumulative risk indicators. Results: Multidimensional growth mixture modeling identified three classes: "High EF-High Obesity Resilience"; "Low EF-Delayed-Onset Severe Obesity"; and "Low EF-Early-Onset Severe Obesity." Youth in the low-EF, early-onset class displayed higher birth weight and BMI at 6 months, whereas the low-EF, delayed-onset class had rapid weight gain during infancy, parents with class II obesity, and greater cumulative risk and was more likely to be Black and female. Conclusions: Despite increased obesity risk among this sample, the majority of youth exhibited higher EF and some degree of obesity resilience. Youth with EF deficits displayed the greatest risk for severe obesity but had differing BMI trajectories and obesity risk profiles, which has implications for obesity intervention.

Background: Executive functioning (EF) difficulties may be associated with problems regulating eating behaviours. Few studies have evaluated this question in youth using diverse measures of EF or objective measures of energy intake.Methods:The current study used neuropsychological tasks and a laboratory test meal to evaluate the links between EF and youth's disinhibited eating patterns.Two-hundred-five nontreatment seeking youth (M age = 13.1 ± 2.8 years; M BMIz = 0.6 ± 1.0; 33.2% overweight; 54.1% female) completed tasks measuring decision making, general and food-specific behavioural disinhibition, willingness to delay gratification for food and money, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. Age (children vs adolescents) was examined as a moderator. All analyses adjusted for demographic factors, pubertal status, lean mass (kg), fat mass (%), height, general intellectual functioning, and depressive symptoms.Results: After adjusting for multiple comparisons, more general behavioural disinhibition was associated with greater total energy intake (P = .02), and poorer cognitive flexibility was associated with more fat intake (P = .03) across all ages. Poorer decision making in children (P = .04), but not adolescents (P = .24), was associated with greater fat intake. Food-specific behavioural disinhibition, the ability to delay gratification for both food and monetary rewards, and working memory were not significantly associated with youth's disinhibited eating patterns during a single meal.Conclusions: Most domains of EF were not associated with youth's disinhibited eating. Significant associations may highlight the need to target specific cognitive processes, particularly behavioural disinhibition, decision making, and cognitive flexibility, in potential intervention strategies for children's disinhibited eating.K E Y W O R D Schild, disinhibited eating, executive functioning, obesity