Acute after-school screen time in children decreases impulse control and activation toward high-calorie food stimuli in brain regions related to reward and attention

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of after-school sedentary screen time on children’s brain activation in reward and cognitive control regions in response to pictures of high- and low-calorie foods. Thirty-two children participated in a randomized crossover study with counterbalanced treatment conditions. Conditions took place on separate days after school and included three hours of active or sedentary play. After each condition, neural activation was assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants completed a go/no-go task involving pictures of high- and low-calorie foods. General response inhibition was also measured using the Stroop task. Hunger was measured upon arrival to the testing facility and just prior to fMRI scans. Mixed effects models were used to evaluate main effects and interactions. Significant stimulus by condition interactions were found in the right superior parietal cortex, and left anterior cingulate cortex (Ps ≤ 0.05). High-calorie pictures elicited significantly more activation bilaterally in the orbitofrontal cortex compared to low-calorie pictures (Ps ≤ 0.05). Stroop task performance diminished significantly following the sedentary condition compared to the active ( P ≤ 0.05). Subjective feelings of hunger were not different between conditions at any point. Sedentary screen time was associated with significantly decreased response inhibition and a reversed brain activation pattern to pictures of high- and low-calorie foods compared to active play, in areas of the brain important to the modulation of food intake. Decreased attention, and impulse control following sedentary screen time may contribute to disinhibited eating that can lead to overweight and obesity.