In the mood for food? What our appetitive traits can tell us about our weight

After seeing the pictures below, do you feel hungry and want to eat? Do you often feel an increased appetite when you smell food during cooking? Do you eat less or more when you are angry? And if you see a new kind of food, do you want to try it, or do you prefer the food you usually eat?

Appetitive traits are defined as a set of persistent predispositions toward food that interact with environmental factors, and often influence food intake and its consequences (i.e., being obese or being underweight)^1,2. Importantly, in contrast to other traits that one might have (i.e., extraversion versus introversion, flexibility versus inflexibility), appetitive traits are related to the environment. Our environment is full of processed, storable (artificially preserved), and palatable food. Energy-dense food is becoming cheaper and more accessible. Such an “obesogenic environment” does not force us to overeat, but the opportunities and the incentives from these kinds of food make it easier to gain weight³. However, some individuals maintain a healthy weight whilst others become obese^4,5. Professor Jane Wardle´s behavioural susceptibility theory (BST) might provide an explanation for this, by theorizing that gaining weight results from an interaction between genetic risk (i.e., some people inherit higher responsiveness to the smell or sight of food) and environmental exposure (such as easy access to fast food)¹. Genes set the potential for becoming obese, but the environment determines the outcome. In addition, Stanley Schachter´s externality theory explains that individuals who are genetically predisposed to be highly responsive to food cues are more likely to overeat in an environment in which food cues pervade every aspect of daily living^6,7. For example, during the COVID-19 lockdown (perceived as a stressful environment), people with higher emotional overeating traits ate more to suppress negative emotions^8,9. Furthermore, Wardle distinguishes two types of appetitive traits: approach and avoidance traits^1,10. Whereas approach traits (i.e., food responsiveness, emotional overeating, enjoyment of food) are associated with eating onset behaviours and often lead to overweight or obesity, avoidance traits (i.e., satiety responsiveness, slowness of eating, emotional undereating) are related to eating offset behaviours and tend to lead to eating disorders (i.e., anorexia). Back to the questions in the first paragraph. If you often feel happy when you see food and often enjoy food, and you also eat more when you have negative emotions, then you have food approach traits. If you, on the other hand, often eat slowly, your stomach feels full after a certain amount of food, and eating is your formal habit to fill your stomach, or you usually don’t have an appetite when you have negative emotions, then you most probably have food avoidance traits. If you have higher food approach traits, are you at risk of being overweight or obese? Don´t worry, as the aetiology of obesity is complex³. Environments play a role in determining the consequences. If we try to make our environment healthy (i.e., put more healthy food at home, only go to the healthy section in the supermarket), then our risk of being overweight is low.   This blog was written by Eveline Sarintohe (Radboud University) for RAD-blog, the blog about smoking, alcohol, drugs and diet.   References

1. Wardle, J., Carnell, S. (2009). Appetite is a heritable phenotype associated with adiposity. Behav. Med, 38, 25–30.
2. Hunot, C., Fildes, A., Croker, H., Llewellyn, C.H., Wardle, J., Beeken, R.J. (2016). Appetitive traits and relationships with BMI in adults: Development of the adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. Appetite, 105, 356–363
3. Llewellyn, C.H. & Fildes, A. (2017). Behavioural Susceptibility Theory: Professor Jane Wardle and the Role of Appetite in Genetic Risk of Obesity. Curr Obes Rep, 6:38–45.
4. Fildes, A., Mallan, K.M., Cooke, L., van Jaarsveld C.H.M., Llewellyn, C.H., Fisher, A., Daniels, L. (2015). The relationship between appetite and food preferences in British and Australian children. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12:116.
5. Mallan, K.M., Fildes, A., Garcia, X. DLP., Drzezdzon, J., Sampson, M., Llewellyn, C. (2017). Appetitive traits associated with higher and lower body mass index: evaluating the validity of the adult eating behaviour questionnaire in an Australian sample. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14:130.
6. Boswell, R.G. & Kober, H. (2016). Food cue reactivity and craving predict eating and weight gain: A meta-analytic review. Obesity Reviews, 17(2), 159–177. doi:10.1111/obr.12354.
7. Schneider-Worthington, C.R., Smith, K.E., Roemmich, J.N., Salvy, S-J. (2022). External food cue responsiveness and emotional eating in adolescents: A multimethod study. Appetite, 168: 105789. doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105789
8. Sadler, J.R., Thapaliya, G., Jansen, E., Aghababian, A.H., Smith, K.R., Carnell, S. (2021). COVID-19 Stress and Food Intake: Protective and Risk Factors for Stress-Related Palatable Food Intake in U.S. Nutrients, 13, 901.
9. Coakley, K.E., Le, H., Silva, S.R., Wilks, A. (2021). Anxiety is associated with appetitive traits in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nutrition Journal, 20:45.
10. Coakley, K.E., Le, H., Silva, S.R., Wilks, A. (2021). Anxiety is associated with appetitive traits in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nutrition Journal, 20:45.