Behavioral economics (BE) suggests that food and activity choices are governed by costs, available alternatives, and reinforcement. This article reviews basic, translational, and intervention research using a BE framework with overweight or obese children up to age 18. We address BE concepts and methods, and discuss developmental issues, the continuum of BE intervention approaches, findings of studies focused on increasing the cost of unwanted behaviors (ie, energy-dense food intake and sedentary behavior) and decreasing the cost of desired behaviors (ie, healthy food intake and PA), and our team’s recent basic behavioral studies using BE approaches with minority adolescents.
Key points
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Behavioral economics (BE) offers pathways for interventions to increase physical activity and healthier food intake and decrease sedentary behavior and unhealthy food consumption.
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BE suggests that pediatric clinicians should take careful behavioral histories, focused on the child’s “marketplace” of food and activity options, to “nudge” behavior change.
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Clinicians and families must agree on the specific behaviors and time frame to be targeted for change, with the recognition that smaller, sustainable steps are more likely to be completed than more ambitious goals.
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