Is obesity in the brain? Parent perceptions of brain influences on obesity

Abstract

Neuroimaging studies demonstrate associations of brain structure and function with children's eating behaviour and body weight, and the feasibility of integrating brain measures into obesity risk assessment and intervention is growing. However, little is known about lay perceptions of how the brain influences obesity. We investigated parent perceptions of brain contributions to obesity in three separate studies: 1) a study of mothers of adolescents recruited for neuroimaging research (n = 88), 2) a study of ethnically Chinese parents of 5-13 year olds participating in a parent feeding survey (n = 277), and 3) a study of parents of 3-15 year olds completing an online survey (n = 113). In general, parents believed that brain factors influence obesity, but considered them less influential than behaviours such as diet and exercise. Causal attributions for brain factors were correlated with attributions for genetic factors and biological factors (e.g., metabolism). Parents who perceived their child to be overweight or had a high concern about their child becoming overweight in the future rated brain factors as more important in determining their child's weight and more likely to lessen their child's ability to control their weight. Our results suggest that parents attribute obesity to the brain to a moderate degree, and that education or feedback regarding brain influences on obesity could be a promising obesity intervention component.

Keywords: brain; causal perceptions; childhood obesity; genetics; parents.

FIGURE 1

shows the mean ratings of obesity beliefs across three samples: (A) Causal beliefs in mothers from study 1; (B) Responsibility beliefs in mothers from study 1; (C) Causal beliefs from parents from study 2; (E) Causal beliefs in parents from study 3; (F) Control beliefs in parents from study 3. Bars represent single item or composite scores across different items collected in each study. The number of items in each category is denoted in parenthesis on the x-axis bar labels. Significant differences between ratings of brain perceptions vs. biology, genetics, or behaviour are denoted by stars

FIGURE 2

shows a selection of between group differences in obesity beliefs identified in three samples: (A) In study 2, parents’ perceived child weight was associated with their beliefs about if the brain causes overweight; (B) In study 3, parents’ concern about future child obesity was associated with their beliefs about if the brain is important in determining their child’s future weight. Significant differences between group as identified by post-hoc tests are denoted by stars