Factors that influence the reinforcing value of foods and beverages

Abstract

Behavioral economic principles state that as the cost of a product increases, purchasing or consumption of that product will decrease. To understand the impact of behavioral economics on ingestive behavior, our laboratory utilizes an operant behavior paradigm to measure how much work an individual will engage in to get access to foods and beverages. This task provides an objective measure of the reinforcing value. We have shown that consumption of the same high fat snack food every day for two weeks reduces its reinforcing value in lean individuals, but increases its reinforcing value in a subset of obese individuals. This increase in the reinforcing value of food predicts future weight gain. Similarly, we have shown that repeated intake of caffeinated soda increases its reinforcing value in boys, but not in girls. This increase in reinforcing value is not related to usual caffeine consumption, but may be associated with positive, subjective effects of caffeine that are more likely to be reported by boys than by girls. Because food and beverage reinforcement relates to real-world consumption, it is important to determine factors that increase or decrease the reinforcing value and determine the consequences of these responses. We are especially interested in determining ways to shift the behavioral economic curve in order to develop novel strategies to decrease the reinforcing value of less healthy snack foods and beverages, such as soda, potato chips and candy and to increase the reinforcing value of healthier foods and beverages, such a water, fruits, and vegetables.

Food packaging cues influence taste perception and increase effort provision for a recommended snack product in children

“…Previous studies suggest that liking measures do not fully explain food choices (Epstein et al, 2003 ; Mela, 2006 ; Temple, 2014 ). In contrast to subjective liking scales, the motivation to work for an item, that is, its reinforcing value, can be objectively measured by determining how much work an individual engages in to receive an item (Temple, 2014 ).…”

The relative reinforcing value of sweet versus savory snack foods after consumption of sugar- or non-nutritive sweetened beverages

“…Sugar and NNS affect central food reward areas that stimulate reward-driven eating behavior (Burke & Small, 2015;Epstein, Carr, Lin, & Fletcher, 2011;Sylvetsky, Rother, & Brown, 2011;Yang, 2010), and sugar as a component of a food particularly increases the reinforcing value of that food (Avena, Rada, & Hoebel, 2008;Epstein, et al, 2011). Food reinforcement motivates people to eat and predicts energy intake (Epstein, Leddy, Temple, & Faith, 2007;Temple, 2014). Given the potential of NSB consumption to uncouple sweet taste and post-ingestive consequences (Burke & Small, 2015) and that the sugar content of a food increases its reinforcing value (Epstein, et al, 2011), it can be posited that NNS, including those in NSBs, may increase the reinforcing value of sugar-rich sweet tasting foods later in the day in an attempt to recouple sweet taste with energy and post-ingestive consequences (Yang, 2010).…”

Adding a reward increases the reinforcing value of fruit

“…To increase the consumption of healthy snacks methods other than rewards include subsidies, increasing variety of healthy snack options and making healthy snacks the default option in restaurants and cafeterias (4,22,48,49) . In addition, it also known that individual characteristics influence the difference in RV of healthy foods and unhealthy foods (3,10,21,22) , the effect of rewarding strategies (15) and in general the RV of food (3)(4)(5)8,20) . We therefore assessed whether the individual characteristics such as sex, BMI, state of hunger or SR moderated the difference in RV of fruit + reward and unhealthy snacks or fruit in adolescents.…”