Is amount of food intake in overweight and obese children related to their psychopathology and to maternal eating behavior?

Objective lore the relationship among the amount of food intake of 8- to 12-years old overweight children, their psychopathology (internalizing, externalizing and attention problems) and the mothersʹ amount of food intake. s revious trial designed to test the influence of a preload on food intake, overweight to obese children and their mothers participated in a taste test thereby consuming a preweighed amount of a mousse-like dessert, which was reweighed again at the end. In the current study, we reanalyzed these data by assessing the relationship between childrenʹs amount of food intake and their psychopathology, as measured with the Child Behavior Checklist. s nd that children with high scores for attention problems consumed larger amounts of food. No such relationship could be observed for childrenʹs externalizing problems. Additionally, a positive and direct effect of motherʹs amount of food intake on childrenʹs energy food intake was present even when accounting for childrenʹs psychopathology. sion s suggest that besides mothersʹ influence on childrenʹs food intake, childrenʹs problems to self-regulate impulses may be related to uncontrolled eating behavior and weight gain.