Brain Response to Food Brands Is Positively Associated With Laboratory Intake at a Branded Meal in Children

Background Food companies spend over $7.4 billion per year on child‐targeted food advertisements focused on establishing brand loyalty. Although branding and advertising are ubiquitous, not all children are equally susceptible to their effects. Objective The objectives of this study were 1) to determine whether food brands evoke differential activation in brain areas related to brand recognition, food motivation, and inhibitory control when compared to non‐food brands or control images using blood oxygen dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) and 2) to determine the association between child brain responses to food brands and energy intake at a branded meal. Methods Using a within‐subjects, cross‐over design with repeated measures, children completed four visits, each scheduled one week apart. During the first three visits, children consumed ad libitum , multi‐item test‐meals delivered in a randomized order using three presentation conditions: familiar food brands, a novel food brand, and no brand (control). On the fourth visit children completed an fMRI scan where they passively viewed food brands (e.g., Kraft®, Motts®, etc.) and non‐food brands (e.g., Nike®, Tide®, etc.). A whole‐brain analysis was conducted on the fMRI data using two contrasts, food brands > non‐food brands and food brands > control images. Results were corrected for multiple comparisons using a voxel‐wise P <0.001 and spatial extent threshold of 1 to yield an overall P <0.05. Pearson correlations were calculated to determine the association between brain response to food versus non‐food brands and children's intake at branded meals versus control. Results Relative to non‐food brands, food brand images were associated with increased activity in the L. Post Central Gyrus ( P =0.01). Relative to control, food brand images resulted in greater activation in the R. IFG ( P =0.007) and decreased activation in the L. Fusiform Gyrus ( P =0.0006). The activation in the R. IFG was positively associated with the difference in energy intake at the branded meal versus the control (r=0.556; P =0.004). Conclusion Food brands compared to non‐food brands and control images evoked greater activation in brain areas implicated in motivation (i.e., L. Post Central Gyrus) and inhibitory control (i.e., R. IFG). Food‐brand associated activity in the R. IFG, a region implicated in inhibitory control, predicted children's consumption from test‐meals presented with food brands (compared to control). These findings may help explain differences in the susceptibility to the intake‐promoting effects of food advertising in children.