Integrative Review of Evidence Related to Dietary Choice Revealed by fMRI: Considerations for Obesity and Weight Loss Education

Background: Emerging findings from neuroimaging studies investigating brain activity associated with dietary behavior illuminates the interaction of biological and behavioral mechanisms to food stimuli and holds promise for nursing research focused on obesity prevention. Dietary risk contributes to obesity and overweight. The etiology of obesity is complex interaction of physiological, social, and environmental factors. Globally an estimated 1.9 billion adults are overweight and another 650 million are obese. Obesity and overweight are major risk factors for some of the leading causes of chronic illness and death. Behaviorally-based public health interventions have had limited, long-term success in curbing the obesity epidemic. Greater understanding of the neural responses to food cues will expand the scientific basis of nursing knowledge and subsequent public health efforts in obesity prevention. Objective: “To determine the state of the science investigating the relationship