@article{GroppeElsner2015, author = {Groppe, Karoline and Elsner, Birgit}, title = {The influence of hot and cool executive function on the development of eating styles related to overweight in children}, series = {Appetite : multidisciplinary research on eating and drinking}, volume = {87}, journal = {Appetite : multidisciplinary research on eating and drinking}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {London}, issn = {0195-6663}, doi = {10.1016/j.appet.2014.12.203}, pages = {127 -- 136}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Studies linking executive function (EF) and overweight suggest that a broad range of executive functions might influence weight via obesity-related behaviors, such as particular eating styles. Currently, however, longitudinal studies investigating this assumption in children are rare. We hypothesized that lower hot and cool EF predicts a stronger increase in eating styles related to greater weight gain (food approach) and a weaker increase in eating styles related to less weight gain (food avoidance) over a 1-year period. Hot (delay of gratification, affective decision-making) and cool (attention shifting, inhibition, working memory updating) EF was assessed experimentally in a sample of 1657 elementary-school children (German school classes 1-3) at two time points, approximately one year apart. The children's food-approach and food-avoidance behavior was rated mainly via parent questionnaires at both time points. As expected, lower levels of hot and cool EF predicted a stronger increase in several food-approach eating styles across a 1-year period, mainly in girls. Unexpectedly, poorer performance on the affective decision-making task also predicted an increase in certain food-avoidance styles, namely, slowness in eating and satiety responsiveness, in girls. Results implicate that lower EF is not only seen in eating-disordered or obese individuals but also acts as a risk factor for an increase in particular eating styles that play a role in the development of weight problems in children. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} }