The Presence of Friends Increases Food Intake in Youth

University at Buffalo

Status: Completed

Conditions: Energy Dense Caloric Intake; Nutrient Dense Caloric Intake; Total Caloric Intake

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00874055

DB2213

1R01HD057190-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Participants will be matched with either their friend or an unfamiliar peer who is the same gender and about the same age. Participants will have 45 minutes of free-play in an experimental room where they will have free access to energy-dense and nutrient-dense foods and an assortment of games and puzzles.

The investigators predict that participants eating with a friend will eat significantly more than participants eating with an unfamiliar peer. The investigators also predict that overweight participants eating with an overweight partner will eat significantly more than participants eating with a non overweight participant.

Enrollment: 72 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 9 to 15 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Boys and girls ages 9-15
• Between 15th and 95th BMI percentile for their age

Exclusion criteria

• Sickness, psychopathology or developmental disabilities
• Participant has a cold or upper respiratory distress
• Food allergies to the study food
• Participant is on medication or has a medical condition that could influence taste, appetite or olfactory sensory responsiveness.