Psychological and behavioral responses to daily weight gain during behavioral weight loss treatment.

Self-weighing is consistently associated with more effective weight control. However, patterns show that participants disengage from their weight control behaviors following weight gain. Women with BMIs in the overweight/obese range (N = 50) enrolled in a long-term behavioral weight loss program completed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys immediately after their daily weigh-ins. Nightly EMA surveys and self-monitoring data through Fitbit measured their weight control behavior that day. On days when participants gained weight (vs. lost or maintained), they reported more negative mood, more guilt/shame, and lower confidence in weight control. Motivation following daily weight gain depended on participants' overall satisfaction with their weight loss so far: more satisfied participants had marginally higher, but less satisfied participants had marginally lower motivation in response to daily weight gain. Greater guilt/shame and lower motivation after the weigh-in predicted less effective weight control behavior that day (e.g., lower likelihood of calorie tracking, fewer minutes of physical activity). Results demonstrate that even small weight gain is distressing and demoralizing for women in BWL programs, which can lead to goal disengagement. These findings have implications for future BWL interventions, including the potential utility of just-in-time adaptive interventions to promote more adaptive responses in the moments after weigh-ins.

The Role of Household Social Support and Undermining in Dietary Change.

BACKGROUND: US adults find it challenging to meet disease prevention dietary recommendations and may participate in interventions to improve dietary quality. Social influences outside of the intervention, including level of social support and undermining of healthy eating in the home, may affect an individual's dietary intake. This secondary analysis examined (1) changes in household social support and undermining of healthy eating across a dietary intervention with household member participation and (2) the relationship between changes in social influences and dietary intake. METHOD: Adults (N = 62) with low adherence to cancer prevention dietary recommendations recruited from the Philadelphia area participated in a 20-week dietary intervention focused on psychoeducation about NCI dietary recommendations and skills for behavior change. Half of the participants were also randomized to have an adult household member participate in some intervention contacts with them. Participants completed measures of social support and undermining of healthy eating and dietary intake at baseline and post-treatment (20 weeks). RESULTS: Fifty-two participants had available data for baseline and post-treatment (i.e., completers). Household social support of healthy eating increased more among participants randomized to have household involvement in the intervention with a medium effect (η2 = .11). Fruit and vegetable intake significantly increased among participants with meaningful increases in household social support with a large effect (η2 = .37). There were no significant interaction effects of change in household undermining and time on change in dietary intake. CONCLUSION: Dietary interventions with a household support component show promise for improving household social support and may impact magnitude of dietary change.

Ethnic and Gender Differences in Sun-Related Cognitions Among College Students: Implications for Intervention.

BACKGROUND: Skin cancer incidence and prognosis vary by ethnicity and gender, and previous studies demonstrate ethnic and gender differences in sun-related cognitions and behaviors that contribute to this disease. The current study sought to inform skin cancer interventions tailored to specific demographic groups of college students. The study applied the prototype willingness model (PWM) to examine how unique combinations of ethnic and gender identities influence sun-related cognitions. METHOD: Using data from a survey of 262 college students, the study tested whether self-reported sun-related cognitions were different for White women, Hispanic women, White men, and Hispanic men. Path modeling was also used to identify which PWM cognitions (e.g., prototypes, norms) were the strongest predictors of risk and protection intentions and willingness in each demographic group. RESULTS: Several differences in sun-related cognitions and PWM pathways emerged across groups, emphasizing the need for tailored skin cancer education and interventions. Results suggest that, for White women, interventions should primarily focus on creating less favorable attitudes toward being tan. CONCLUSION: Interventions for Hispanic women may instead benefit from manipulating perceived similarity to sun-related prototypes, encouraging closer personal identification with images of women who protect their skin and encouraging less identification with images of women who tan. For White men, skin cancer interventions may focus on creating more favorable images of men who protect their skin from the sun. Lastly, interventions for Hispanic men should increase perceived vulnerability for skin cancer.

A Proof-of-Concept Pilot Test of a Behavioral Intervention to Improve Adherence to Dietary Recommendations for Cancer Prevention.

OBJECTIVES: Prevention programs that can help adults improve the quality of their diets to reduce cancer risk are needed. This Phase IIa study prospectively tested a mHealth intervention designed to improve adherence to dietary quality guidelines for cancer prevention. METHODS: All participants (N = 62) received nutrition education and a self-regulation skills curriculum, with a primary target of changing grocery shopping behavior. Using a randomized, factorial design, the study varied whether each of the following 4 components were added to the 20-week intervention: (1) location-triggered app messaging, delivered when individuals arrived at grocery stores, (2) reflections on benefits of change, delivered with extra coaching time and tailored app messages, (3) coach monitoring, in which food purchases were digitally monitored by a coach, and (4) involvement of a household member in the intervention. RESULTS: Benchmarks were successfully met for recruitment, retention, and treatment acceptability. Across conditions, there were significant reductions in highly processed food intake (P < .001, η2 = .48), red and processed meat intake (P < .001, η2 = .20), and sugar-sweetened beverage intake (P = .008, η2 = .13) from pre-to post-treatment. Analyses examining whether each intervention component influenced change across time found that participants who received coach monitoring increased their intake of fruits, vegetables, and fiber, whereas those with no coach monitoring had less improvement (P = .01, η2 = .14). The improvement in red and processed meat was stronger among participants with household support ON, at a marginally significant level, than those with household support OFF (P = .056, η2 = .07). CONCLUSION: This study showed feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary signals of efficacy of a remotely delivered intervention to facilitate adherence to dietary guidelines for cancer prevention and that coach monitoring and household support may be especially effective strategies. A fully powered clinical trial is warranted to test an optimized version of the intervention that includes nutrition education, self-regulation skills training, coach monitoring, and household member involvement. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04947150.

The Role of Physical Activity in Long-term Weight Loss: 36-month Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) may promote long-term weight loss, but facilitating high levels of PA in behavioral weight loss programs is challenging. PURPOSE: This study reports the 36-month follow-up of a behavioral weight loss trial that tested the efficacy of increasing the emphasis on PA during treatment and using traditional or acceptance-based therapy (ABT) for this purpose. We also examined the extent to which long-term weight loss differed by PA pattern and tested if individual differences in eating behavior moderated this relationship. METHODS: Participants (N = 320) were randomized to (1) standard behavioral weight loss treatment (BT), (2) BT with a focus on PA, or (3) ABT with a focus on PA. Weight loss and PA were measured at 24- and 36-month follow-up. RESULTS: There were no differences between conditions in weight loss or PA at 24 or 36 months. Participants consistently engaging in high PA experienced the greatest weight losses. The positive impact of PA on weight loss was more pronounced among those with low emotional eating and those who believed that exercise did not affect their appetite. CONCLUSIONS: Findings emphasize the difficulty of improving long-term PA among adults with overweight/obesity beyond what standard behavioral weight loss treatment achieves. This study highlights the need to develop new PA treatment strategies, and suggests that ABT for weight loss may be more effective when applied to eating behavior versus PA. Results also demonstrate the importance of addressing problematic eating behavior and cognitions to fully realize the benefits of PA for weight loss. CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02363010.

Do monthly coaching calls influence proximal participant adherence in a behavioral weight loss program?

Participants who receive continued coach contact following behavioral weight loss treatment are more successful in maintaining their weight loss long-term. The current study examines whether these contacts have dynamic effects, such that participants are most adherent to the prescribed weight loss behaviors in the days after the call, when motivation and goal salience may be heightened, than they are as time goes on. The current study examined the trajectory of calorie intake, physical activity, weight, and self-monitoring behavior in the fourteen days after a monthly coaching call among participants completing the maintenance phase of a behavioral weight loss trial. For physical activity outcomes, caloric intake, and weight, there were no changes across time. Participants did have the highest adherence and quality of dietary self-monitoring immediately after the call, which diminished over time. Coach contact may continually renew commitment to this burdensome but critical behavior. Likelihood of self-weighing showed an opposite trend, where participants were more likely to weigh themselves in the days more distal from the coach call. Results can inform the timing and content of future coach contact to promote weight control.

The role of self-compassion and its individual components in adaptive responses to dietary lapses.

Dietary lapses (i.e., instances of dietary non-adherence) are common during weight loss attempts, and compromise success in two ways: increasing caloric intake and demoralizing the participant, sometimes leading them to abandon their weight control goals altogether. Efforts to understand and prevent demoralization have received almost no research attention. Self-compassion has high potential to promote adaptive responses to these setbacks because it reframes "failure" and promotes self-improvement. Past research shows that when participants experience a lapse, those practicing higher self-compassion report higher self-efficacy and intentions to continue dieting. The current study extended this literature to examine whether self-compassion in response to a lapse would predict lower likelihood of a subsequent same-day lapse and greater reports of perceived control over weight management behaviors. We also examined whether the individual facets of self-compassion, including self-kindness (treating oneself the way one would a friend); common humanity (the understanding that everyone has struggles); and mindfulness (non-judgmental awareness of thoughts and feelings) are associated with these outcomes. Participants (N = 140) enrolled in a behavioral weight loss trial completed 6 ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys a day for seven days. Total self-compassion and each facet of self-compassion individually were all associated with less negative affect after a lapse. None of the self-compassion variables predicted the likelihood of participants reporting a lapse again that day. However, higher total self-compassion and higher self-kindness after a lapse were both associated with greater perceived self-control over weight management behaviors in the hours following. Common humanity and mindfulness, respectively, were not associated with reports of perceived control. Results suggest that self-compassion following dieting setbacks may prevent goal disengagement, and that self-kindness is the facet most strongly associated with adaptive responses to these setbacks.

Latent Profile Analysis of Physical Activity Motivation during Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment.

Participants in behavioral weight loss (BWL) treatment often struggle to meet and maintain physical activity (PA) prescriptions; improving participants' motivation for the behavior is a potential intervention strategy. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) outlines a continuum of qualitatively different dimensions of motivation, suggesting that more self-determined forms of motivation should predict more PA, whereas less self-determined forms of motivation should be unrelated or negatively related to PA. Although SDT has ample empirical support, most existing research in this area has used statistical analyses that oversimplify the complex, interdependent relationships between dimensions of motivation and behavior. This study's purpose was to explore commonly occurring motivational "profiles" for PA based on the SDT dimensions of motivation (amotivation, external, introjected, integrated/identified, and intrinsic motivation) and how these profiles relate to PA behavior among participants with overweight/obesity (N=281, 79.4% female) at baseline and six months into BWL treatment. Latent profile analysis determined that three motivational profiles fit the data best at both timepoints and the profile characterized by high self-determined (i.e., integrated/identified and intrinsic) motivation and moderate introjected motivation was by far the most common. There were no differences in physical activity behavior across motivational profiles, which contrasts previous literature. Findings suggest that participants who take the initiative to sign up for intensive BWL programs may have sufficiently high PA motivation, which may be a poor predictor of their actual behavior. Future research should examine these relationships later in treatment, when motivation may have more variability, as well as among participants who initiate lower-commitment weight loss programs (e.g., self-help).

Implementation Intentions to Reduce Smoking: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Implementation intentions are a goal-setting technique in which an individual commits to perform a particular behavior when a specific context arises. Recently, researchers have begun studying how implementation intention (II) interventions can facilitate antismoking efforts. The current systematic review synthesized results of experimental studies that tested the effect of an II intervention on smoking cognitions and behavior. Of 29 reviewed articles, 11 studies met inclusion criteria. Nine studies (81.8%) tested an II intervention as a cessation tool for current smokers, whereas two tested II interventions as a tool to prevent smoking among predominantly nonsmoking adolescents. A majority of the studies (66.7%) testing II interventions as a cessation tool reported a positive effect on cessation at long-term follow-up. Of the two studies testing II interventions as a tool for prevention, one study found a positive effect on long-term follow-up. Methodology varied between the studies, highlighting the discrepancies between what researchers consider "implementation intentions" to be. II interventions are a promising tool for antismoking efforts, but more research is necessary to determine the best methodology and the populations for whom this intervention will be most effective. IMPLICATIONS: Brief, free, and easily scalable, II interventions to prevent smoking are highly attractive for antismoking efforts. This review outlines the circumstances under which II interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in helping people resist smoking cigarettes. We illuminate gaps in the existing literature, limitations, methodological discrepancies between studies, and areas for future study.

Combining a UV photo intervention with self-affirmation or self-compassion exercises: implications for skin protection.

The current study tested whether self-affirmation or self-compassion exercises, shown to increase message acceptance, could maximize the benefit of a UV photo intervention on skin protection cognitions. College women (N = 167) were randomly assigned to: (1) view a UV photo or Black and White (no-UV) photo of their face and (2) write a self-affirmation, self-compassion, or neutral essay. Participants who saw their UV photo reported healthier cognitions, including greater perceived vulnerability and intentions to protect skin. Within the self-compassion condition, participants who saw their UV photo were also more likely to take the sunscreen packets offered. However, neither self-affirmation nor self-compassion enhanced the effect of the UV photo. Within the UV condition, women who completed these exercises had similar (and occasionally less healthy) cognitions and behavior as those who wrote a neutral essay. The benefits of self-affirmation and self-compassion in conjunction with health messages may be limited to higher risk groups who experience more message defensiveness than the current sample.

Physicians' perspectives on the informational needs of low-risk prostate cancer patients.

Despite the evidence indicating that decision aids (DA) improve informed treatment decision making for prostate cancer (PCa), physicians do not routinely recommend DAs to their patients. We conducted semi-structured interviews with urologists (n = 11), radiation oncologists (n = 12) and primary care physicians (n = 10) about their methods of educating low-risk PCa patients regarding the treatment decision, their concerns about recommending DAs, and the essential content and format considerations that need to be addressed. Physicians stressed the need for providing comprehensive patient education before the treatment decision is made and expressed concern about the current unevaluated information available on the Internet. They made recommendations for a DA that is brief, applicable to diverse populations, and that fully discloses all treatment options (including active surveillance) and their potential side effects. Echoing previous studies showing that low-risk PCa patients are making rapid and potentially uninformed treatment decisions, these results highlight the importance of providing patient education early in the decision-making process. This need may be fulfilled by a treatment DA, should physicians systematically recommend DAs to their patients. Physicians' recommendations for the inclusion of particular content and presentation methods will be important for designing a high quality DA that will be used in clinical practice.

Incorporating a Smoking Cessation Intervention into Lung Cancer Screening Programs: Preliminary Studies.

Two preliminary studies assessed whether telephone counseling (TC) is a feasible smoking cessation intervention following lung cancer screening. Seven older smokers undergoing lung cancer screening (pack years = 61.5) completed three TC sessions, which incorporated the screening result as motivation to quit. Participation (87.5%) and retention (85.7%) rates were good, and four smokers quit smoking (three of whom received abnormal results). We conducted four focus groups with 16 current and former older smokers (pack years = 55). Most believed that an abnormal scan would motivate them to quit and expressed interest in TC. TC may be feasible and potentially efficacious within lung screening programs.

Racial differences in physical activity engagement, barriers, and enjoyment during weight loss.

OBJECTIVE: Aiming to identify potential intervention targets to achieve more equitable outcomes from behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs, the current study examined whether Black and White individuals experienced similar increases in physical activity (PA) engagement, perceived PA barriers, and PA enjoyment during an 18-month BWL program. METHOD: Adults (N = 290) enrolled in an 18-month BWL program from 2014 to 2016 completed accelerometer-based measurements of moderate-to-vigorous PA and self-reported measures of PA barriers and enjoyment at months 0, 6, 12, and 18. RESULTS: Black participants had significantly fewer minutes of PA than White participants at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months. Black participants reported fewer barriers to PA than White participants at 0 and 6 months but not at 12 or 18 months. They also reported higher PA enjoyment than White participants at 0 and 6 months but not at 12 or 18 months. Furthermore, whereas White participants had a significant reduction in PA barriers and an increase in PA behavior overtime, Black participants did not. There was no interaction between race and time on PA enjoyment. CONCLUSIONS: Traditional BWL interventions may be ineffective for promoting PA among Black participants and may not appropriately address the unique PA barriers that Black participants experience. An improved understanding of differences in PA behaviors during BWL among Black and White individuals could help delineate why Black participants do not appear to benefit as much as White participants from traditional BWL programs and inform intervention strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Coach access to digital self-monitoring data: an experimental test of short-term effects in behavioral weight-loss treatment.

OBJECTIVE: This study experimentally tested whether coach access to participants' digital self-monitoring data improved behavioral weight-loss outcomes. METHODS: Participants (N = 322) received 12 weeks of group-based behavioral weight-loss sessions via videoconference and were instructed to engage in daily self-monitoring of weight, physical activity (PA), and dietary intake. For participants who were randomly assigned to Coach Share ON (n = 161), coaches regularly accessed a web-based portal that displayed data from the participants' scale, PA sensor, and food record. RESULTS: Weight loss at 12 weeks was significantly greater in Coach Share ON versus OFF (6.2% vs. 5.3%; p = 0.04). Self-monitoring of PA (98.70% vs. 97.40% of days; p = 0.006) and eating (98.05% vs. 93.51% of days; p = 0.007) was more frequent in Coach Share ON versus OFF. There were no significant differences by condition in PA (p = 0.57), attendance (p = 0.42), working alliance (p = 0.62), or self-monitoring of weight (p = 0.12). Perceived supportive accountability was significantly greater in Coach Share ON versus OFF (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The short-term efficacy of behavioral weight loss was greater when coaches had direct access to self-monitoring device data. Notably, there also was no evidence of iatrogenic effects of data sharing.

Understanding the relationship between subclinical depressive symptoms and physical activity in behavioral weight loss treatment.

Introduction: Many adults with overweight or obesity experience subclinical symptoms of depression, but little is known about how such symptoms are associated with physical activity (PA) or the experience of PA during behavioral weight loss (BWL) treatment. Methods: In the current study, adults recruited from the community (N = 320) received 18 months of group-based BWL treatment and wore accelerometers at months 0, 6, and 18 to objectively measure PA. Participants with a mood disorder that was not well controlled were not eligible for the study and were referred for individual treatment. Depressive symptoms, PA barriers, discomfort avoidance, and self-control were self-reported with validated measures. Results: At baseline, the majority of participants indicated some depressive symptoms, mostly at subclinical levels. Results of multilevel models suggest that depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with concurrent measures of PA engagement (minutes/week) or sedentary behavior (minutes/week) at a given time point (i.e., baseline, 6 months, or 18 months). Results of cross-level interactions suggest that baseline depressive symptoms did not moderate the change in PA or sedentary behavior across time. Concurrent depressive symptoms and PA barriers were significantly and positively associated at a given time point (i.e., baseline, 6 months, or 18 months); however, baseline depressive symptoms did not moderate the improvement in perceived PA barriers across time. At baseline, higher discomfort avoidance and lower self-control each independently and partially mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and PA barriers. Conclusion: Results suggest that, among BWL samples in which most participants do not have clinically significant depressive symptoms, the likelihood of adopting and sustaining PA does not depend on the extent of depressive symptoms, but those with elevated symptoms may benefit from approaches that address their perception that engaging in PA is especially challenging.

The Effects of Implicit Theories on Body Weight Information Avoidance.

Regular self-weighing is associated with more effective weight control, yet many individuals avoid weight-related information. Implicit theories about weight, or perceptions of how malleable weight is, predict more effortful weight management and may also influence weight-related information avoidance. Participants (N = 209) were randomly assigned to read an article stressing an incremental theory of weight (i.e., weight is malleable), an article stressing an entity theory (i.e., weight is fixed), or to a control condition. We then examined their self-reported preference to avoid their body composition (i.e., body fat, weight, and muscle composition), their willingness to have their body composition measured during the lab visit, and their eating and exercise intentions. There were no notable differences across conditions, but higher self-reported incremental beliefs predicted less self-reported avoidance of body composition. The findings suggest that implicit theories may influence weight-related information avoidance, but a brief manipulation is not powerful enough to create meaningful change.

Using artificial intelligence to optimize delivery of weight loss treatment: Protocol for an efficacy and cost-effectiveness trial.

Gold standard behavioral weight loss (BWL) is limited by the availability of expert clinicians and high cost of delivery. The artificial intelligence (AI) technique of reinforcement learning (RL) is an optimization solution that tracks outcomes associated with specific actions and, over time, learns which actions yield a desired outcome. RL is increasingly utilized to optimize medical treatments (e.g., chemotherapy dosages), and has very recently started to be utilized by behavioral treatments. For example, we previously demonstrated that RL successfully optimized BWL by dynamically choosing between treatments of varying cost/intensity each week for each participant based on automatic monitoring of digital data (e.g., weight change). In that preliminary work, participants randomized to the AI condition required one-third the amount of coaching contact as those randomized to the gold standard condition but had nearly identical weight losses. The current protocol extends our pilot work and will be the first full-scale randomized controlled trial of a RL system for weight control. The primary aim is to evaluate the hypothesis that a RL-based 12-month BWL program will produce non-inferior weight losses to standard BWL treatment, but at lower costs. Secondary aims include testing mechanistic targets (calorie intake, physical activity) and predictors (depression, binge eating). As such, adults with overweight/obesity (N = 336) will be randomized to either a gold standard condition (12 months of weekly BWL groups) or AI-optimized weekly interventions that represent a combination of expert-led group, expert-led call, paraprofessional-led call, and automated message). Participants will be assessed at 0, 1, 6 and 12 months.

Sharing digital self-monitoring data with others to enhance long-term weight loss: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Participants in behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs increasingly use digital tools to self-monitor weight, physical activity, and dietary intake. Data collected with these tools can be systematically shared with other parties in ways that might support behavior change. METHODS: Adults age 18 to 70 with overweight/obesity (BMI 27-50 kg/m2) will enroll in a remotely delivered, 24-month BWL program designed to produce and maintain a 10% weight loss. Participants will be asked to use a wireless body weight scale, wearable activity sensor, and dietary intake app daily. All participants will receive individual and group counseling, engage in text messaging with members of their group, and appoint a friend or family member to serve in a support role. A 2x2x2 factorial design will test the effects of three types of data sharing partnerships: 1) Coach Share: The behavioral coach will regularly view digital self-monitoring data and address data observations. 2) Group Share: Participants will view each other's self-monitoring data in small-group text messages. 3) Friend/Family Share: A friend or family member will view the participant's data via automated message. The primary outcome is weight loss at 24 months. Mediators and moderators of intervention effects will be tested. CONCLUSION: This study will provide a clear indication of whether data sharing can improve long-term weight loss. This study will be the first to discern the mechanisms of action through which each type of data sharing may be beneficial, and elucidate conditions under which the benefits of data sharing may be maximized.

Gamification and neurotraining to engage men in behavioral weight loss: Protocol for a factorial randomized controlled trial.

Over 70% of men are overweight, and most desire weight loss; however, men are profoundly underrepresented in weight loss programs. Gamification represents a novel approach to engaging men and may enhance efficacy through two means: (1) game-based elements (e.g., streaks, badges, team-based competition) to motivate weight control behaviors and (2) arcade-style "neurotraining" to enhance neurocognitive capacities to resist the temptation of unhealthy foods and more automatically select healthy foods. This study will use a 2 × 2 factorial design to examine the independent and combinatory efficacy of gamification and inhibitory control training (ICT). Men with overweight/obesity (N = 228) will receive a 12-month mobile weight loss program that incorporates behavioral weight loss strategies (e.g., self-monitoring, goal setting, stimulus control). Men will be randomly assigned to a non-gamified or gamified version, and an active or sham ICT. A game design company will create the program, with input from a male advisory panel. Aims of the project are to test whether a gamified (versus non-gamified) weight loss program and/or ICT (versus sham) promotes greater improvements in weight, diet, and physical activity; whether these treatment factors have combinatory or synergistic effects; to test whether postulated mechanisms of action (increased engagement, for gamification, and inhibitory control, for ICT) mediate treatment effects; and whether baseline gameplay frequency and implicit preferences for ICT-targeted foods moderate effects. It is hoped this study will contribute to improved mHealth programs for men and enhance our understanding of the impact of gamified elements and neurocognitive training on weight control.

How beliefs about weight malleability and risk perceptions for obesity influence parents' information seeking and feeding.

This study surveyed 185 parents to determine whether their perceived risk of their child developing obesity and their implicit theories about the malleability of weight independently and/or interactively predict their child-feeding and pursuit of child-related obesity risk information. Higher risk perceptions were associated with healthier feeding intentions and more information seeking. More incremental (malleable) beliefs predicted healthier feeding intentions and greater pursuit of environmental, but not genetic, information. Contrary to hypotheses, the influence of implicit theories and risk perceptions were primarily independent; however, more incremental beliefs predicted less "junk food" feeding among only parents with lower perceived risk.