With the prevalence
of overweight individuals having quadrupled since the 1980’s, the obesity epidemic continues to
exert strain on society and its health care systems. There has been a
substantial amount of research attempting to discern cognitive components that
may be implicated in, or predictive of, the onset of obesity. Researchers have
postulated a link between the increased frequency of energy-rich, highly
salient food information in our environment and the development of aberrant
cognitive processing in obese individuals. Of particular interest to this
review were studies investigating two self-regulatory cognitive components,
attention and response inhibition, both of which are thought to have
implications for the modulation of food-related emotion and behaviour. This
review examined twenty-six studies, each of varying methodology, concerning
attentional biases and differences in response inhibition towards food-related
stimuli in obese compared with normal weight individuals. Results proved to be
inconsistent, and somewhat contradictory. Eight out ten studies provided at
least partial support for the existence of attentional biases while six out of
sixteen studies identified a decreased response inhibition in obese compared to
normal weight individuals. Results seem to be highly influenced by differences
in studies’ methodology. The aetiology of obesity is acknowledged to be a
complex and heterogeneous issue, however continued research in this field is
paramount in developing society’s knowledge of the causal constructs driving
weight gain in order to develop successful prevention and treatment
interventions.