Low Childhood Socioeconomic Status Promotes Eating in the Absence of Energy Need
作者基于生命史理论，提出童年低社会经济地位（SES）会促使个体在能量需求不足时仍然进食。通过三项研究，作者测量或操纵了参与者的能量需求，并提供零食供其食用，同时收集了童年和当前SES数据。结果发现，高童年SES的个体会根据即时能量需求调节进食量（需求高时吃得多，需求低时吃得少），而低童年SES的个体在能量需求高和低时进食量同样高，即未能根据能量需求调节进食。这表明童年SES可能对食物调节产生持久影响。
Life-history theory predicts that exposure to conditions typical of low socioeconomic status (SES) during childhood will calibrate development in ways that promote survival in harsh and unpredictable ecologies. Guided by this insight, the current research tested the hypothesis that low childhood SES will predict eating in the absence of energy need. Across three studies, we measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Studies 2 and 3) participants' energy need and gave them the opportunity to eat provided snacks. Participants also reported their SES during childhood and their current SES. Results revealed that people who grew up in high-SES environments regulated their food intake on the basis of their immediate energy need; they ate more when their need was high than when their need was low. This relationship was not observed among people who grew up in low-SES environments. These individuals consumed comparably high amounts of food when their current energy need was high and when it was low. Childhood SES may have a lasting impact on food regulation.