Research

Adherence

Obese individuals exhibit heightened incentive motivation (desire/willingness to work for food) and physiological responsiveness to food cues compared to lean individuals, despite not necessarily reporting higher hedonic liking (pleasure).

Focus less on whether you 'like' the food more than others, and more on how your environment triggers your desire to eat. Obese individuals often show higher 'incentive salience' (willingness to work for food) when exposed to cues. Managing the visibility and availability of food cues may be more effective than relying on willpower or taste preferences alone.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Although both groups gave these different rewards equivalent hedonic ratings, the food reward had much greater reinforcement value for the obese women (in terms of willingness to work harder for it using a computer task)... Obese women also showed decreased rate loss of responsiveness (salivation) to repeat presentations of food cues, suggesting that the foods had a longer-lasting potency as a stimulus.
David J. Mela · Obesity Research · 2001

Why this rating

The paper cites multiple converging lines of evidence (behavioral tasks, neuroimaging, physiological measures) from peer-reviewed studies.

Source

Determinants of Food Choice: Relationships with Obesity and Weight Control

David J. Mela · Obesity Research · 2001

narrative_reviewCited 243×
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