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NCT Number: NCT03441594

Psychological Mechanisms Linking Food Insecurity and Obesity

The current pilot study will examine emergent hypotheses by investigating the role of psychological mechanisms in the relationship between food insecurity and obesity. This objective will be achieved via a cross-sectional, observational pilot study collecting quantitative and qualitative data.

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Key information

Conditions

Obesity Body Weight Nutrition Disorders Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases Overnutrition Overweight Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Psychological Signs and Symptoms

Age range

18 year–49 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70808-4124, United States

About this study

This pilot study will investigate an emergent risk factor for obesity: food insecurity, which is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods. While paradoxically linked, numerous studies have shown a significant association between food insecurity and obesity. Moreover, recent narrative works have developed new, untested hypotheses linking food insecurity and obesity positing the causal role of psychological mechanisms. Given this, this mixed method pilot study will collect new psychological data in a sample of food secure and food insecure adults with and without obesity to examine the connections between food insecurity, body weight, and psychological constructs. The overarching objective of the study is to gather pilot data to identify potentially new intervention targets that will be used in future studies to more rigorously investigate the relationship between food insecurity and obesity.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 18-49 years
  • BMI ≥ 20.0 kg/m2
  • Able to read and write using the English language
  • Willing to provide written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

  • Pregnancy

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Delay Discounting

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes at Study Visit 1

    Assessed via the 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire, which measures bias toward smaller, immediate rewards versus larger, delayed rewards. This questionnaire presents participants with a set of 27 choices between smaller, immediate monetary rewards and larger, delayed monetary rewards. Participants who discount the value of the delayed rewards more steeply are considered to be more impulsive. An estimate of a participant's discounting rate (k) is calculated from the pattern of choices. Values of k range from 0.00016 (ln transformation -8.74) to 0.25 (ln transformation -1.39), with higher values indicating a greater preference for smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. K tends to be skewed, so a natural log (ln) transformation is utilized to approximate a normal distribution for statistical analyses.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Grit

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes at Study Visit 1

    Assessed using the 8-item Short Grit Scale, which measures trait-level perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Scores range from 1 (not at all gritty) to 5 (extremely gritty).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

Registry information

Official study title

Psychological Mechanisms Linking Food Insecurity and Obesity (Food Mind Pilot Study)

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2018
Study completion
2019
First posted
Feb 22, 2018
Registry last updated
Feb 5, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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