Recruiting

Eating in Absence of Hunger

Sponsor:

State University of New York at Buffalo

Code:

NCT07818382

Conditions

Eating in Absence of Hunger

Food Parenting

Appetitive Traits

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 5 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Eating in Absence of Hunger (EAH) paradigm

Study Details

Brief summary:

This is a single-visit study consisting of parent-child dyads attending a 2-hour session. The purpose of this research is to use the eating in absence of hunger (EAH) paradigm, to evaluate the association between parental EAH, food parenting, appetitive traits, and children EAH. It is hypothesized that both the parental EAH and the controlling food parenting will have a significant positive association with the children EAH. The results from this study will help us understand how food parenting, appetitive traits, and parental EAH influences the children EAH.

Conditions

Eating in Absence of Hunger

Food Parenting

Appetitive Traits

Study ID

NCT07818382

Start date

Jul 8, 2026

Status verified date

Sep, 2026

Completion date

Dec 1, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jul 8, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 5 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

Parent/ guardian:

  • Age > 18 years old.
  • Have a child between the ages of 5 - 11.
  • Must be responsible for feeding their eligible child at least 50% of the time.
  • Willing and able to eat the meal and snacks provided.
  • Fluent in English.

Children:

  • If parent/ guardian is eligible and participating in the study.
  • Child is aged 5 - 11 years.
  • Child is not currently diagnosed with a clinical eating disorder (ED).
  • Willing and able to eat the meal and snacks provided.
  • Child is not on any medications or has any condition that could influence the child's taste, appetite, or olfactory sensory responsiveness.

Exclusion Criteria:

Parent/ guardian:

  • Age is >18 years old.
  • Their child is determined ineligible (based on age).
  • Is responsible for feeding their eligible child < 50% of the time.
  • Not fluent in English.
  • On medication that could influence their eating or feeding behaviors.
  • If the parent/ guardian is pregnant
  • Allergic or unable to eat the study food presented.
  • History of choking (without gagging).

Children:

  • Their parent/ guardian is not eligible nor participating in the study.
  • Below the age of 5 and above the age of 11.
  • Current diagnosis of a clinical eating disorder (ED).
  • Allergic or unable to eat the study food presented.
  • Medications or conditions that could influence the child's taste, appetite, or olfactory sensory responsiveness.
  • History of choking (without gagging).

Study Design

Enrollment

70 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Eating in Absence of Hunger (EAH) paradigm

Participating dyads will be asked to eat until full at a standardized meal while being video and audio recorded. Dyads will then be separated and undergo a "taste test". This taste test introduces the EAH paradigm, whereas participants will be presented with 8 different highly palatable snack foods and seated activities. They are given 15 minutes of free time to eat and/or engage in these activities. They will be left alone during this time and are informed to not use electronic devices. Their Eating in Absence of Hunger energy intake will be measured by weighing the remaining snack foods. Multiple hunger, thirst, and liking forms throughout the paradigm. The nature of the EAH paradigm is not disclosed until the end of the session, where there is a formal debriefing.

Interventions

Eating in Absence of Hunger (EAH) paradigm

Participating dyads will be asked to eat until full at a standardized meal while being video and audio recorded. Dyads will then be separated and undergo a "taste test". This taste test introduces the EAH paradigm, whereas participants will be presented with 8 different highly palatable snack foods and seated activities. They are given 15 minutes of free time to eat and/or engage in these activities. They will be left alone during this time and are informed to not use electronic devices. Their Eating in Absence of Hunger energy intake will be measured by weighing the remaining snack foods. Multiple hunger, thirst, and liking forms throughout the paradigm. The nature of the EAH paradigm is not disclosed until the end of the session, where there is a formal debriefing.

Primary outcome measure

  • Correlation between parent EAH intake and child EAH intake [ Time Frame: Up to 120 minutes ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Locations

State University of New York at Buffalo (South Campus)

Recruiting

Buffalo, New York, United States, 14214

Contacts

Hannah E Kolpack, BS

7168295820hkolpack@buffalo.edu

More Information

Sponsor

State University of New York at Buffalo

Last update posted

Sep 14, 2026

Last verified

Sep, 2026

Keywords

  • Eating in Absence of Hunger
  • Food parenting
  • Appetitive traits
  • Middle childhood

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-15. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by State University of New York at Buffalo on 2026-09-14.