中国儿童超重肥胖比率不断增长,危害儿童身心健康.因此,有必要关注儿童肥胖问题,探究儿童饮食行为与肥胖的脑结构关联.慢食行为是儿童饮食行为中潜在的重要关键因素,在增强饱腹感的同时减少能量摄入,能够有效预防和改善肥胖问题,但已有研究未深入探讨其脑结构基础.本研究选取99名儿童,年龄范围为9～12岁,平均年龄为10.476±0.855岁,通过儿童饮食行为量表的慢食维度测量儿童的慢食行为,使用磁共振成像仪采集脑影像数据,获取脑区皮层体积并映射到中国儿童脑体积常模上,进一步得到儿童脑区皮层体积在常模上的相对位置参数.相关分析结果表明,身体质量指数(body mass index,BMI)与慢食行为(r=-0.383,P＜0.001)呈负相关,与舌回皮层体积(r=0.304,P=0.002)和后扣带回皮层体积呈正相关(r=0.392,P＜0.001),慢食行为与后扣带回皮层体积呈负相关(r=-0.221,P=0.028).中介模型表明后扣带回皮层体积在儿童慢食行为与身体质量指数之间存在中介作用,中介效应值为-0.088.后扣带回具有重要的奖赏和执行控制功能,引导注意力焦点(进食体验、进食过程)和支持内部导向认知(奖赏状态、饱腹状态).慢食行为的儿童感知进食过程并识别饱腹信号,适时停止进食行为,而快速进食的儿童在进食体验带来的奖赏中忽视了饱腹状态,往往与过度进食产生肥胖有关.本研究提供了儿童慢食行为和身体质量指数稳健的脑结构基础证据,并且为从减缓餐内饮食速度入手改善儿童肥胖问题提供理论参考.
Neuroimaging association between children's slowness in eating and body mass index:A study based on Chinese children's brain structural norms
The increasing rate of overweight and obesity among Chinese children poses risks to physical and mental health.Therefore,it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of childhood obesity and investigate the cognitive neural mechanisms of how children's eating behavior affects obesity.Slowness in eating is a potential key factor in children's dietary behavior that can help control their food intake.This practice not only enhances the feeling of fullness but also reduces energy intake,effectively preventing and improving obesity issues.The correlation between children's slowness in eating behavior and body mass index(BMI)involves complex brain associations,which have not been thoroughly explored in existing studies.This study innovatively interprets the association between children's slowness in eating and BMI from the perspectives of satiety and reward,and investigates the structural changes in the corresponding brain regions.In the study,99 children aged 8.917-12.083(Mage=10.476,SD=0.855)with a BMI ranging from-2.687-3.339(MBMI=0.577,SD=1.328)were selected.Children's slow eating behavior was measured through the slowness in eating dimension of the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire.Brain imaging data were collected using a magnetic resonance imaging scanner to obtain cortical volume of brain regions,which were then mapped onto the Chinese children's brain volume norms to derive the relative position parameters of individual brain region volumes within those norms.The results of the correlation analysis indicated that BMI was negatively correlated with slowness in eating(r=-0.383,P＜0.001),and positively correlated with lingual gyrus volume(r=0.304,P=0.002)and posterior cingulate cortex volume(r=0.392,P＜0.001).Slowness in eating was negatively correlated with posterior cingulate cortex volume(r=-0.221,P=0.028).The mediating model indicated that the volume of the posterior cingulate cortex had a mediating effect between slowness in eating and body mass index in children,with a mediation effect value of-0.088.The robust correlation between the volumes of the lingual gyrus and the posterior cingulate cortex with BMI elucidates the pivotal influence of visual processing,reward anticipation,and executive control on both the modulation of slowness in eating and the development of obesity.Posterior cingulate cortex plays an important role in reward and executive control functions,guiding attention focus(eating experience,eating process),and supporting internally guided cognition(reward state,satiety state).Children with slowness in eating can perceive the eating process,recognize satiety signals,and stop eating behavior in a timely manner,whereas children who eat quickly often overlook satiety signals in the rewarding eating experience,which is often associated with overeating and obesity.This study provides robust evidence of the brain structural basis for children's slow eating behavior and body mass index,and offers theoretical reference for improving the problem of childhood obesity by starting with slowing down the pace of eating during meals.
childrenslowness in eatingposterior cingulate cortexlingual gyrusbody mass indexmagnetic resonance imaging
万方数据
维普
