The role of top-down appetite self-regulation in the development of healthy eating behaviors among children: a narrative review and socialization framework

Authors: BRIDGETT, DAVID - University Of Nevada School Of Medicine; HUGHES, SHERYLO - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); BROUSSARD, MATTHEW - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); MCCOURT, DANIELA - Temple University; CROCE, CHRISTINA - Temple University; FISHER, JENNIFER - Temple University

Submitted to: Appetite
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/13/2025
Publication Date: 11/14/2025
Citation: Bridgett, D.J., Hughes, S., Broussard, M., McCourt, D., Croce, C.M., Fisher, J.O. 2025. The role of top-down appetite self-regulation in the development of healthy eating behaviors among children: a narrative review and socialization framework. Appetite. 218.Article 108384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2025.108384.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2025.108384

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Appetite self-regulation (ASR) among children is thought to have a fundamental role in shaping the development of healthy eating behaviors, dietary intake, and growth during childhood. Parallel to developmental frameworks for understanding “general” self-regulation among children, ASR has been described as involving children’s use of “top-down” cognitive processes to moderate “bottom-up” biological drives around food approach and avoidance in the interest of achieving desired eating behaviors or outcomes. Whereas bottom-up ASR processes during early childhood are well characterized, particularly in the context of dysregulation and obesity risk, the role of top-down ASR processes in the development of healthy eating behaviors is virtually unstudied. The purpose of this narrative review is to bring together diverse research literatures in developmental psychology, food parenting, and ingestive behavior to articulate a role for top-down ASR in the development of healthy eating behaviors in early childhood and highlight putative socialization influences. We draw from a large literature on executive functioning in children to articulate how top-down ASR may be recruited in the service of achieving desired eating outcomes and draw from the developmental literature to highlight the potential avenues of socialization for top-down ASR processes.