Choices between money and hyper-palatable food: Choice impulsivity and eating behavior.

Abstract

Objective: Choice impulsivity may influence eating behavior. The study tested whether choice impulsivity, termed delay discounting, may be related to food generally, or may be specific to hyper-palatable foods (HPF). The study also determined whether a discounting task with choices between money and food may have utility in predicting obesity-related outcomes. Method: Participants (N = 284) completed a task that assessed choices between smaller reward available immediately and larger reward available later. Single commodity conditions presented choices between amounts of HPF, non-HPF, or money (e.g., HPF now vs. HPF later). Cross-commodity conditions presented choices between money and food commodities (e.g., money now vs. HPF later; money now vs. non-HPF later). Results: There were no significant differences in discounting of HPF and non-HPF in single commodity conditions (Mean ln[k] difference = .40, p = .058). In the cross-commodity conditions holding money constant as the immediate reward, individuals discounted HPF significantly less than non-HPF (Mean ln[k] difference = .92; p = .0001). In regression analyses, individuals with excess HPF intake, greater HPF craving, and higher BMIs were more likely to choose HPF immediately, when money was the delayed reward (p values = .003 to .008). Conclusions: Choice impulsivity may be specific to foods that are hyper-palatable. Results suggest that individuals with excess HPF intake, higher HPF craving, and higher BMIs may exhibit a general tendency toward impulsive decision making that may be exacerbated in an obesogenic environment that provides wide access to HPF.

Discordance between gut-derived appetite hormones and energy intake in humans

“…In our study, the LC diet had a greater proportion of hyper-palatable foods than the LF diet and mediated 13.9±4.0% of the diet effect on meal energy intake [25]. The availability of hyperpalatable foods in the US food system has increased from around 49% to around 69% in 30 years [31]. Emerging evidence suggests that hyper-palatable foods may be more rewarding [32], and that consumption is disproportionately increased during binge eating episodes in patients with bulimia nervosa [33].…”

“…32 Emerging cross-sectional evidence suggests that hyper-palatable foods may be more rewarding. 33 More work is required to determine the utility of quantitative definitions of hyper-palatability and their influence on food intake. Whilst the alternative diet-related factors discussed may often be inter-related in real world settings, it is important for future work to isolate these diet-related factors and test their contribution to ad libitum energy intake in different dietary contexts (e.g.…”

Choice with Ethical Outcomes: Sign Effect, Commodity Effect, & Ethical Theory Preference

“…These findings differ from past work in cross-commodity discounting. For example, researchers have compared delay discounting between money and food (e.g., Fazzino et al, 2022), alcohol (e.g., Moody et ETHICS A UNIQUE OUTCOME 15 al., 2017), methamphetamine (e.g., Yoon et al, 2018), and weight loss (Sze et al, 2017); and researchers have compared probability discounting between money and leisure activities (Hirst & DiGennaro Reed, 2016). The typical finding is that monetary outcomes are discounted less steeply than non-monetary outcomes.…”

Discounting of Hyper-Palatable Food and Money: Associations with Food Addiction Symptoms

“…Money (US dollars) and HPF commodities were used in the discounting conditions. HPF items were identified using the standardized definition of HPF [ 17 ] and from a list of 12 options, participants selected their preferred HPF (see [ 18 ] for details) for the DD task. Participants were given a choice of HPF to ensure the task would align with individual food preferences.…”