Teens’ brains on food
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
A study that looked at teen brain images indicates some teens are more sensitive to food commercials on TV – and that those teens are more likely to gain weight.
At Oregon Research Institute, Sonja Yokum examined imaging from 30 14- to 17-year-olds.
“Teens who showed elevated response of reward-related brain regions to the food commercials gained more weight than those who showed less activation in these regions.”
Yokum says the brain activity responding to the food commercials predicted weight gain better than well-known risk factors such as having obese parents.
So for some teens, it’s not just a question of watching what you eat – it’s watching what you watch.
The study in Obesity: A Research Journal was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
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HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira