Posted by 
Inability to resist food is linked to how the brain responds to food rewards, this may leads to overeating. In a study with children, researchers discovered that when certain regions of the brain reacted more strongly to being rewarded with food than being rewarded with money, children were more likely to overeat, even when they are not hungry.
People who are willing to work harder for food than other types of rewards, like money, are more likely to overeat and gain weight. Having greater brain responses to food compared to money rewards may leads to overeat when appealing foods are available.
For the study, researchers studied children between the ages of 7 and 11 years. The children were given meals designed to measure how they eat in a variety of different situations, such as a typical meal when they’re hungry versus snacks when they’re not hungry. How much the children ate at each meal was determined by weighing the plates before and after the meals.
The children had fMRI scans as they played several rounds of a game in which they guessed if a computer-generated number would be higher or lower than five. They were then told that if they were right, they would win either money, candy or a book, before it was revealed if they were correct or not. The researchers found that when various regions of the brain reacted more to anticipating or winning food compared to money, those children were more likely to overeat.
The brain’s response to food compared to money was related to overeating regardless of how much the child weighed, increased brain responses in areas of the brain related to cognitive control and self control when the children received food compared to money were associated with overeating. Children who had an increased response to food relative to money would overeat because they are highly sensitive to food rewards. Correcting the brain influences on eating could prevent obesity and other poor eating habits.