Impoverished childhood may plant compulsion for overeating

Living in poverty during early childhood could result in a sort of "biological blueprint" that makes one prone to overeating later on in life, according to a new study. It is known that childhood poverty is an obesity risk factor, and researchers recently explored that fact, seeking to find the reason why. While that question has still not been conclusively answered, the researchers found a compulsion among those who were raised in poverty to eat when food is available rather than only when they are hungry.

The work was done by researchers at Texas Christian University, and could help shed light on the reason why some overeat, potentially leading to new treatment options. As known, those who were raised in poverty are more at risk of being obese in adulthood; the reasons for this are varied, and could include anything from the development of poor dietary habits (gravitating toward cheap but nutritionally poor food, for example) to inadequate knowledge about nutrition.

This new project, though, finds that those were lived in poverty during their youngest years may have a biologically-based compulsion to eat when food is available rather than when one is hungry. The reason one may develop that imperative is rather straight forward: when food is scarce, one eats when they are able to, not having the luxury of eating only when they are hungry.

To test the idea, researchers used 30 female volunteers with a body mass index below 30 and who did not suffer from diabetes or food allergies. These volunteers were given a bowl of pretzels and chocolate chip cookies, and were asked to rate a sample of each. They were also told they could eat the remaining snacks after the ratings were finished.

Later, the volunteers filled out a survey that asked asked them to rate agreeableness with questions about poverty before the age of 12, such as "My family had enough money for things growing up."

At the end of it all, volunteers who had said they were hungry ate no more than other hungry volunteers regardless of childhood poverty status. Those who were raised in poor environments, though, ate more when they weren't hungry than those raised in wealthier environments. Subsequent tests found similar results.

The research suggests that those who were raised in impoverished conditions as children — in conditions where food may not have been regularly available — may have a compulsion to eat food when it is available (regardless of hunger) even if they're not still in that environment of scarcity.

Said researcher Sarah Hill:

We were surprised by the lasting impact that one's childhood environment plays in guiding food intake in adulthood. We were also surprised by the fact that one's level of wealth in adulthood had almost no impact on patterns of food intake.

SOURCE: EurekAlert