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Many higher-weight individuals have internalised societal weight stigma, devaluing themselves because of their weight. Rejecting and challenging societal devaluation is generally associated with superior outcomes compared with stigma internalisation or inaction; however, stigma resistance has not been studied in higher-weight individuals, despite ubiquitous weight stigma in daily life. Applying a social identity framework, we utilised decision tree analysis to explore predictors of responses to weight stigma in 931 self-classified higher-weight individuals. While ingroup identification with the group 'Fat' was the major predictor of stigma resistance (versus internalisation), perceived illegitimacy of societal weight stigma defined a subgroup of resisters even in the absence of group identity. Interventions focusing on the illegitimacy of unequal social status and treatment may be effective at reducing internalisation and fostering resistance in a population with characteristically low ingroup identity.

This paper reviews evidence demonstrating a bidirectional relationship between memory and eating in humans and rodents. In humans, amnesia is associated with impaired processing of hunger and satiety cues, disrupted memory of recent meals, and overconsumption. In healthy participants, meal-related memory limits subsequent ingestive behavior and obesity is associated with impaired memory and disturbances in the hippocampus. Evidence from rodents suggests that dorsal hippocampal neural activity contributes to the ability of meal-related memory to control future intake, that endocrine and neuropeptide systems act in the ventral hippocampus to provide cues regarding energy status and regulate learned aspects of eating, and that consumption of hypercaloric diets and obesity disrupt these processes. Collectively, this evidence indicates that diet-induced obesity may be caused and/or maintained, at least in part, by a vicious cycle wherein excess intake disrupts hippocampal functioning, which further increases intake. This perspective may advance our understanding of how the brain controls eating, the neural mechanisms that contribute to eating-related disorders, and identify how to treat diet-induced obesity.

Deficits in interoception have been associated with disordered eating but there has been no systematic review of whether the interoceptive deficits are observed across all types of disordered eating and across interoceptive modalities. There has also been no evaluation of whether deficits in interoception play a causal role in the development of disordered eating. Nor has there been a review of the moderating/mediating factors of the relationship between interoception and disordered eating. To address these gaps we conducted a systematic review using PRISMA guidelines. 104 studies with 32883 participants were included. Deficits in interoception were observed across disordered eating types and interoceptive modalities suggesting that interoception may constitute a transdiagnostic feature of disordered eating. There is currently limited evidence on the causal role of interoception in the development of disordered eating and no studies have formally analysed the moderators/mediators. Future mechanistic research examining particular dimensions of interoception will provide insights into the specific interoceptive deficits associated with disordered eating and could lead to the development of improved therapies.

Obesity and Binge-Eating Disorder (BED) are prevalent conditions that are associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. There is evidence that the use of pharmacotherapy alongside behavioural treatments can improve quality of life and reduce disease risk for patients with these disorders. However, there are few approved drug therapies for obesity, and these are limited by poor efficacy and/or side effects and only one drug has been approved for the treatment of BED. There is considerable potential to use experimental medicine models to identify new drug treatments for obesity and BED, with greater efficacy and an improved side effect profile, at an early stage of development. Here, we present a model developed in our laboratory that incorporates both behavioural and neuroimaging measures which can be used to facilitate drug development for obesity and BED. The results from validation studies conducted to date using our model suggest that it is sensitive to the effects of agents with behavioural, neurophysiological and neuropharmacological mechanisms of action known to be associated with weight loss and reductions in binge eating. Future studies using the model will be valuable to evaluate the potential efficacy and side-effects of new candidate drugs at an early stage in the development pipeline for both obesity and BED.

Food addiction is controversial within the scientific community. However many lay people consider themselves addicted to certain foods. We assessed the prevalence and characteristics of self-perceived “food addiction” and its relationship to a diagnostic measure of “clinical food addiction” in two samples: (1) 658 university students, and (2) 614 adults from an international online crowdsourcing platform. Participants indicated whether they considered themselves to be addicted to food, and then completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale, measures of eating behavior, body image, and explicit and internalized weight stigma. Participants in the community sample additionally completed measures of impulsivity, food cravings, binge eating, and depressive symptomatology. Follow-up data were collected from a subset of 305 students (mean follow-up 280 ± 30 days). Self-perceived “food addiction” was prevalent, and was associated with elevated levels of problematic eating behavior, body image concerns, and psychopathology compared with “non-addicts”, although individuals who also received a positive “diagnosis” on the Yale Food Addiction Scale experienced the most severe symptoms. A clear continuum was evident for all measures despite no differences in body mass index between the three groups. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that perceived lack of self-control around food was the main factor distinguishing between those who did and did not consider themselves addicted to food, whereas severity of food cravings and depressive symptoms were the main discriminating variables between self-classifiers and those receiving a positive “diagnosis” on the Yale Food Addiction Scale. Self-perceived “food addiction” was moderately stable across time, but did not appear predictive of worsening eating pathology. Self-classification as a “food addict” may be of use in identifying individuals in need of assistance with food misuse, loss-of-control eating, and body image issues.

Purpose The need for dietary management in coeliac disease may lead to the development of disordered eating. This study examined the prevalence of disordered eating and factors predicting disordered eating in women with coeliac disease, compared with other dietary-controlled conditions. Methods A cross-sectional, online survey assessing psychological well-being, disordered eating behaviours (Eating Attitudes Test 26 (EAT-26); Binge Eating Scale (BES)) was distributed using online forums, to those with coeliac disease (N = 157), inflammatory bowel disease (N = 116), type two diabetes (N = 88) and healthy controls (N = 142). Hierarchical regressions were conducted to explore and compare the predictors of EAT-26 and BES scores across all groups. Within the coeliac disease group, a cluster analysis was conducted to examine types of disordered eating. Results Higher EAT-26 scores were found in those with coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease compared with healthy controls and type two diabetes; participants with a chronic health condition had higher BES than healthy control participants. The factors associated with EAT-26 scores differed across the dietary-controlled health conditions, with dietary management being important for those with coeliac disease. Psychological distress was associated with binge-eating behaviour across all groups. Cluster analyses found two types of disordered eating in coeliac disease; a binge eating type and a restrictive type. Conclusions Disordered eating attitudes and behaviours are more prevalent in participants with chronic health conditions relative to healthy controls. The presence of binge eating behaviours in coeliac disease may be related to non-coeliac disease specific factors such as the distress associated with dietary-controlled illness. EAT-26 scores in coeliac disease are associated with disease specific factors, unique to following the gluten-free diet. These factors are important for identifying and supporting those with coeliac disease and disordered eating.

Reduced self-control is a strong predictor of overeating and obesity. Priming a high construal level mind-set has been shown to enhance self-control and reduce snack consumption in the lab but the long-term and real-world effects are not known. The use of digital technology is an efficient way to deliver priming cues in real-world settings. Many mobile apps claim to support healthy eating but few are grounded in psychological theories of self-control. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility and effectiveness of a novel, construal-theory-based mobile app to promote self-control and healthy eating. In an exploratory analysis, the moderating influence of user characteristics was also examined. Using an iterative process involving users at every stage of the process, a prototype mobile app was developed. The final version included a high construal, self-control priming task, sent personalised reminder cues before each eating occasion, provided a just-in time 'crave-buster' for unanticipated eating opportunities and an optional food log. In a longitudinal trial the app was used over an eight-week period (N=71; 51 females; M (SD) Age = 33.34 (11.68) years; M (SD) BMI = 26.22 (4.94)) with pre-post measures of weight, percent body fat and dietary intake. The app received high usability ratings on the System Usability Scale (M=76.55; SD=11.35), however food intake, per cent body fat and weight pre- and post- app use showed no significant change (p.05). Exploratory analyses showed that baseline construal belief moderated the extent to which engagement with the app predicted dietary changes (p.05). These findings indicate that this novel app was user-friendly and effective but that this was dependent on the user's characteristics. Future development in this area should consider tailoring apps to the specific characteristics of the user for improved support and effectiveness.

The ability to interpret someone’s mental state such as their emotions and intentions (denoted Theory of Mind, ToM), is key to human social interaction. This ability is impaired in several psychopathologies including major depression, and inflammation has been proposed as a candidate mechanism of such impairments. Experimental studies using LPS injection support a role of inflammation, but LPS-induced symptoms of sickness could themselves cause the observed reductions in ToM behaviors. Here we experimentally replicated these effects using a manipulation that minimized these potentially confounding side-effects. Forty healthy male participants (mean age = 25, SD= 5) completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (a measure of ToM) in this double-blind placebo-controlled within-subjects crossover triaI. Inflammation was induced using Salmonella Typhi vaccination (0.025 mg; Typhim Vi, Sanofi Pasteur) and saline-injection was used as a control. IL-6 was used as a marker of inflammation. Vaccination increased IL-6 levels (+419%, p .001), without inducing fever or sickness symptoms (e.g., nausea), or mood changes (all p > .10). The results showed that typhoid vaccination significantly reduced ToM performance compared to placebo (M = 71%, SD = 13%’ placebo M = 65%, SD = 13%; p .05). The present findings provide further support for the idea that emotion recognition is impaired during immune activation. Inflammation may in part drive social-cognitive deficits in pathologies that exhibit enhanced inflammation, such as major depression.

Manipulation of attention during eating has been reported to affect later consumption via changes in meal memory. The aim of the present studies was to examine the robustness of these effects and investigate moderating factors. Across three studies, attention to eating was manipulated via distraction (via a computer game or TV watching) or focusing of attention to eating, and effects on subsequent snack consumption and meal memory were assessed. The participants were predominantly lean, young women students and the designs were between-subjects. Distraction increased later snack intake and this effect was larger when participants were more motivated to engage with the distracter and were offset when the distractor included food-related cues. Attention to eating reduced later snacking and this effect was larger when participants imagined eating from their own perspective than when they imagined eating from a third person perspective. Meal memory was impaired after distraction but focusing on eating did not affect later meal memory, possibly explained by ceiling effects for the memory measure. The pattern of results suggests that attention manipulations during eating have robust effects on later eating and the effect sizes are medium to large. The data are consistent with previous reports and add to the literature by suggesting that type of attention manipulation is important in determining effects on later eating. The results further suggest that attentive eating may be a useful target in interventions to help with appetite control.

BACKGROUND: Neural responses to rewarding food cues are significantly different in the fed vs. fasted (>8 h food-deprived) state. However, the effect of eating to satiety after a shorter (more natural) intermeal interval on neural responses to both rewarding and aversive cues has not been examined. OBJECTIVE: With the use of a novel functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task, we investigated the effect of satiation on neural responses to both rewarding and aversive food tastes and pictures. DESIGN: Sixteen healthy participants (8 men, 8 women) were scanned on 2 separate test days, before and after eating a meal to satiation or after not eating for 4 h (satiated vs. premeal). fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals to the sight and/or taste of the stimuli were recorded. RESULTS: A whole-brain cluster-corrected analysis (P < 0.05) showed that satiation attenuated the BOLD response to both stimulus types in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus, and insula but increased BOLD activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC; local maxima corrected to P ≤ 0.001). A psychophysiological interaction analysis showed that the vmPFC was more highly connected to the dlPFC when individuals were exposed to food stimuli when satiated than when not satiated. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that natural satiation attenuates activity in reward-related brain regions and increases activity in the dlPFC, which may reflect a "top down" cognitive influence on satiation. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02298049.

Purpose: To systematically review evidence concerning disordered eating practices in dietary-controlled gastrointestinal conditions. Three key questions were examined: a) are disordered eating practices a feature of GI disorders?; b) what abnormal eating practices are present in those with GI disorders?; and c) what factors are associated with the presence of disordered eating in those with GI disorders? By exploring these questions, we aim to develop a conceptual model of disordered eating development in GI disease. Methods: Five key databases, Web of Science with Conference Proceedings (1900–2014) and MEDLINE (1950–2014), PubMed, PsycINFO (1967–2014) and Google Scholar, were searched for papers relating to disordered eating practices in those with GI disorders. All papers were quality assessed before being included in the review. Results: Nine papers were included in the review. The majority of papers reported that the prevalence of disordered eating behaviours is greater in populations with GI disorders than in populations of healthy controls. Disordered eating patterns in dietary-controlled GI disorders may be associated with both anxiety and GI symptoms. Evidence concerning the correlates of disordered eating was limited. Conclusions: The presence of disordered eating behaviours is greater in populations with GI disorders than in populations of healthy controls, but the direction of the relationship is not clear. Implications for further research are discussed.

Overweight is associated with a range of negative health consequences, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders, and premature mortality.1 One means to combat overweight is through encouraging people to eat more slowly.2 People who eat quickly tend to consume more3, 4 and 5 and have a higher body mass index,6, 7, 8 and 9 whereas people who eat more slowly feel sated earlier and eat less.10, 11, 12 and 13. Unfortunately, eating rate is difficult to modify, because of its highly automatic nature.14 In clinical settings, researchers have had some success changing behavior by using devices that deliver feedback in real time.15, 16 and 17 However, existing technologies are either too cumbersome18 or not engaging enough19 for use in daily life contexts. Training people to eat more slowly in everyday eating contexts, therefore, requires creative and engaging solutions. This article presents a qualitative evaluation of the feasibility of a smart fork to decelerate eating rate in daily life contexts. Furthermore, we outline the planned research to test the efficacy of this device in both laboratory and community settings

There is interest in the hypothesis that social norms are a determinant of healthy and unhealthy dietary practices. The objective of our work was to assess the weight of evidence that experimentally manipulated information about eating norms influences food intake and choice. This systematic review of experimental studies examined whether providing information about other peoples' eating habits influences food intake or choices. To inform the review, three electronic databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and the Social Sciences Citation Index) were searched during July 2012. A narrative approach was used to synthesize studies that examined the influence of norms on food choice and meta-analyses were used to synthesize the effect that informational eating norms have on quantity of food consumed. Fifteen experimental studies were reviewed. There was evidence that both high intake norms (Z=3.84; P=0.0001; standardized mean difference 0.41, 95% confidence interval 0.20 to 0.63) and low intake norms (Z=2.78; P=0.005; standard mean difference -0.35, 95% confidence interval -0.59 to -0.10) exerted moderate influence on amounts of food eaten. There was consistent evidence that norms influenced food choices; norm information indicating that others make low-energy or high-energy food choices significantly increased the likelihood that participants made similar choices. Information about eating norms influences choice and quantity of food eaten, which could be used to promote healthy changes to dietary behavior.

Negative processing biases towards valenced information are a hallmark of depression. We set out to test whether peripheral inflammation can induce such negative interpretation biases. Forty healthy adult men received Salmonella Typhi vaccination and placebo injections on two separate days, using a double-blind crossover design. Blood samples were taken at baseline, 5.5h and 8h post-injection. The participants completed the P1vital® Oxford Emotional Test Battery, which included a Facial Expression Recognition Task (in which a range of intensities of six emotional facial expressions are classified) and Emotional Categorisation and Recall tasks (in which personality descriptors are categorized as positive or negative, and also later recalled). Vaccination increased Interleukin-6 from 1.18 to a peak of 5.21pg/mL at 5.5h post injection (p

Fatigue and dysphoria are highly prevalent in patients with chronic medical diseases, characterized by impairments in motivated behavior. Inflammation has been proposed as a biological mechanism, but supporting evidence has mostly been accrued through animal studies and correlational human data, while experimental human studies have remained sparse. Hence, the current study tested the effects of induced inflammation on motivated and goal-directed behavior in humans. This double-blinded placebo-controlled within-subjects study (N = 40 healthy males, mean age = 25 SD = 5) used salmonella typhoid vaccination (0.025 mg; Typhim Vi, Sanofi Pasteur) to induce acute inflammation; saline was used as placebo-control. Participants completed a reward-learning task that assessed distinguishable aspects of motivational learning. These are contingency learning, i.e., association of Abstract symbols with monetary rewards/punishments; maintenance of reward-based responses, and goal-directed adaptation to an unannounced change in reward-contingencies. Vaccination increased IL-6 levels (vaccination + 419%; placebo −10%; p .001), confirming presence of inflammation. While in both vaccine and placebo conditions participants reached the same optimum performance level, vaccinated participants required more trials to reach this optimal level, indicating slower reward-based learning. Moreover, in the inflammation condition participants were less able to maintain optimal performance over successive trials and showed less goal-directed behavior, p’s .05. The current results provide the first human evidence that inflammation impaired motivated learning, specifically reducing stability and maintenance of motivated behaviors, and goal-directed behavior.

Obesity may accelerate cognitive aging and inflammation has been proposed as underlying mechanism. Using a 4-group design, the present study investigated associations of obesity and aging in relation to psychomotor speed and attentional processes using the Attention Network Test. Further, we tested to what extent these associations, if any, were mediated by inflammation. Ninety participants (61% male) were enrolled; 41 were classified as lean (mean BMI = 22.4) and 48 as obese (mean BMI = 33.1). Divided evenly over these weight-groups, 42 participants were young (mean age = 26; 21–35) and 48 were older adults (mean age = 71; 63–80). Blood was collected to assess the inflammatory marker IL-6. Both increasing age and obesity were independently associated with psychomotor speed (r=.688 and r=.318, respectively; p .001), as well as with higher inflammation (r=.266 and r=.638, respectively; p .05). Psychomotor slowing was also linked to elevated IL-6 (r=-.429, p .001). Inflammation fully mediated the association of obesity with psychomotor slowing, and partially accounted for age-related psychomotor slowing. After adjustment for psychomotor speed, the data provided no evidence for obesity- or inflammation-associated attention impairments. The present observations showed slower task-responses in obese individuals, consistent with an aging-like effect. Moreover, shown for the first time, inflammation mediated obesity- and age-related psychomotor slowing. Currently follow-up studies are testing other aging-like effects on cognition associated with obesity and the mediating role of inflammation.

Background: Cognitive processes such as attention and memory may influence food intake, but the degree to which they do is unclear. Objective: The objective was to examine whether such cognitive processes influence the amount of food eaten either immediately or in subsequent meals. Design: We systematically reviewed studies that examined experimentally the effect that manipulating memory, distraction, awareness, or attention has on food intake. We combined studies by using inverse variance meta-analysis, calculating the standardized mean difference (SMD) in food intake between experimental and control groups and assessing heterogeneity with the I2 statistic. Results: Twenty-four studies were reviewed. Evidence indicated that eating when distracted produced a moderate increase in immediate intake (SMD: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.53) but increased later intake to a greater extent (SMD: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.45, 1.07). The effect of distraction on immediate intake appeared to be independent of dietary restraint. Enhancing memory of food consumed reduced later intake (SMD: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.68), but this effect may depend on the degree of the participants’ tendencies toward disinhibited eating. Removing visual information about the amount of food eaten during a meal increased immediate intake (SMD: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.68). Enhancing awareness of food being eaten may not affect immediate intake (SMD: 0.09; 95% CI: −0.42, 0.35). Conclusions: Evidence indicates that attentive eating is likely to influence food intake, and incorporation of attentive-eating principles into interventions provides a novel approach to aid weight loss and maintenance without the need for conscious calorie counting.

Expected liking is an important determinant of food choice and there is some suggestion that liking expectations are stable over time. Here we examine the impact that a recent ‘disappointing’ hedonic experience has on expected liking. In Study 1, we examine if a disappointing experience results in changes to expected liking one day after tasting and one week after tasting. In Study 2, we examine whether past frequency of eating a food determines whether a disappointing hedonic experience results in changes to expected liking. In Study 1, expected liking for a food was reduced 1 day after a disappointing experience, but not 1 week afterwards. In Study 2, past frequency of eating moderated whether expected liking for a food was reduced 1 week after a disappointing experience: expected liking of a infrequently eaten food was reduced, but not expected liking of a frequently eaten food. Liking expectations can be influenced by disconfirmatory hedonic experiences with a food product, but these effects are dependent upon the recency of the experience and the past frequency with which the food is eaten.

Predictions about enjoyment of future experiences are influenced by recalling similar past experiences. However, little is known about the relationship between hedonic memories of past eating episodes and future eating behavior. We investigated recall of previous experiences of eating vegetables and the effect of recall on future predicted liking for and consumption of vegetables. British University undergraduate students were asked to retrieve memories of previous occasions when they ate vegetables and were asked to rate how enjoyable those experiences were (Study 1, n=54). The effect of different types of memory recall (including vegetable eating recall) and visualization of someone else eating vegetables (to control for priming effects) on predicted likelihood of choosing vegetables and predicted enjoyment of eating vegetables was examined (Study 2, n=95). Finally, the effect of recalling vegetable eating memories on actual food choice from a buffet was assessed (Study 3, n=63). It is reported that people recall positive memories of past vegetable consumption (P

We investigated whether eating lunch mindfully, in contrast to eating with distractions or no particular focus, reduces later snack intake and if this is related to a measure of meal memory. The design was between-subjects with three conditions. Twenty-nine female undergraduate students either ate a fixed lunch while (1) focusing on the sensory characteristics of the food as they ate (food focus group), (2) reading a newspaper article about food (food thoughts control group) or (3) in the absence of any secondary task (neutral control group). Cookie intake later that afternoon was measured as well as rated vividness of memory of the lunch. Participants ate significantly fewer cookies in the food focus group than in both the food thoughts control group or the neutral control group. Rated appetite before the snack session was lower in the food focus group than in the other two groups and rated vividness of lunch memory was higher. Rated vividness of lunch memory was negatively correlated with snack intake. These results suggest that enhancing meal memory by paying attention to food while eating can reduce later intake and are consistent with the suggestion that memory plays an important role in appetite control.

Memory is likely to be important in food choice because many food likes and dislikes are learnt. Evidence suggests that the final few moments of an experience ('end effect') and the most intense moments of an experience ('peak effect') have a disproportionately large influence on hedonic memories. In Study 1 we examined whether the end effect bias is applicable to remembered enjoyment of a food and whether this holds true for restrained and unrestrained eaters. One hundred and four participants ate the same yoghurt but half the participants experienced a pleasant end and half a bland end (control condition). Although both the 'pleasant ending' and control group had a similar online enjoyment of the yoghurt, unrestrained eaters who experienced a pleasant end remembered it to have been significantly more enjoyable than those in the control condition. No end effect was observed for restrained eaters. In Study 2 we examined predictors of remembered enjoyment of a multi-item meal. Forty-six participants consumed and rated 5 buffet style food items as part of a lunch time meal. For unrestrained eaters, remembered enjoyment of the meal was only predicted by 'peak' online enjoyment of the most liked item. Participant's enjoyment of the first, last and least liked items did not predict remembered enjoyment. For restrained eaters, remembered enjoyment was not predicted by any of the four predictor variables. These results suggest that for unrestrained eaters key moments in eating experiences have disproportionately large influence on remembered enjoyment of eating.

In a social eating context individuals tend to match their food intake to that of eating companions, regardless of whether the other person is eating a large amount. However, relatively little is known about the underlying processes of food intake matching. Findings from behavioural mimicry research suggest that individuals may copy how those around them act in order to facilitate social interactions and ingratiate themselves. The present paper reports two studies which were designed to examine whether ingratiation strategies may in part explain social matching of food intake in young females. In Study 1, female dyads completed a problem solving task together whilst having access to chocolate M&M's. We hypothesised that the extent to which individuals have a need to be socially accepted (trait self esteem) and are competent in social interactions (trait empathy) would predict the degree of matching. In Study 2 we directly manipulated the desire to ingratiate by priming social acceptance in half of participants prior to eating popcorn in the presence of a high eating confederate. In Study 1, both self esteem and empathy were associated with degree of matching within female dyads. In Study 2, priming social acceptance reduced the matching effect in females. These findings suggest that desire for social acceptance may be an underlying cause of social matching of food intake.

Many young women report smoking due to weight concerns, but little is known about the relationship between weight concerns and current smoking behavior. The present study examined smoking topography and the acute sensory and physiological responses to smoking in dieting and non-dieting young women. In addition, the effect of presentation of food cues on these responses was examined. Self-reported female current dieters ( n = 15) and non-dieters ( n = 15) attended two laboratory sessions (food cues present/food cues absent). Physiological and subjective responses were recorded pre- and post-cigarette at each session. Smoking topography was assessed by video analysis. Dieters scored higher than non-dieters on measures of weight control smoking, dietary restraint, and disinhibition. At both sessions, they smoked less of the cigarette, had shorter inhalation durations, longer inter-puff intervals, experienced smaller physiological effects and gave lower ratings of the sensory aspects of smoking than non-dieters. The presence of food cues did not alter smoking topography or sensory/physiological responses but the dieters reported a greater desire to smoke in the presence of food cues. These data suggest that sensory factors may be less important influences on smoking for weight control smokers than non-weight control smokers and that further investigation of the role of food cues in maintaining smoking behavior in weight control smokers is warranted.