Early signs of binge eating can emerge as children enter adolescence, signaling risk for eating disorders. George Mason University researcher Tyler Mason is investigating whether physical activity could improve self-regulation and, in turn, reduce that risk.
With a five-year, R01 grant from NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health, Mason will use wearable technology and other real-time assessments to study children during a pivotal developmental window, with the goal of better understanding how eating disorders develop and how to intervene earlier.
Mason, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at the College of Public Health, is leading the project with co-principal investigator Kathryn Smith , an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.
“Many people overeat, but we’re focused on what is called ‘loss of control eating’—that sense that you can’t stop eating and feel like you have to continue,” Mason said. “The loss of control is the part that can be distressing and associated with eating disorders.”
Previous research has linked physical activity with improved mood and cognitive functioning, aspects of self-regulation that can influence eating behavior. “If physical activity improves aspects of self-regulation, then perhaps it could reduce overeating because of loss of control,” Mason said.
Over three years, researchers will study 200 children in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area starting at ages 10 to 12, a phase when several factors converge: puberty begins, autonomy grows in eating choices, and physical activity tends to decline while sedentary behavior increases.
The study will capture both long-term changes and moment-to-moment shifts in participants’ lives. Garmin wristbands will measure physical activity, while smartphone-based cognitive tests and real-time surveys will track self-regulation, emotions, cravings, and eating behavior. Participants will also undergo functional MRI (fMRI) scans and clinical interviews assessing eating disorder symptoms.
The approach builds on Mason’s work as director of the BREAD Lab at George Mason, short for Biobehavioral Research on Eating and Appetite Dysregulation, within the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies.
With the NIH study, Mason said the goal is to find ways to intervene earlier in problematic eating by understanding whether and how physical activity plays a role, including how its effects unfold in daily moments.
In addition to Mason and Smith, the research team for the study—titled “Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Activity and Loss of Control Eating in Children”—includes Shan Luo, Genevieve Dunton, and Megan Herting of the University of Southern California.