Kathleen Keller
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, Department of Nutritional Sciences and Food Science | Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA, UNITED STATES
Kathleen Keller studies eating behaviors in children, how they develop and how they are related to risk for obesity later in life
Media
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Industry Expertise (4)
Food and Beverages
Health and Wellness
Education/Learning
Research
Areas of Expertise (8)
Clinical Nutrition
Nutrition and Behavior
Genetic and neural influences in taste in children
Neural mechanisms of taste preference and eating behaviors in children
Eating behaviors in children
Food marketing and childhood obesity
Nutrition across the Lifespan
Overview of Nutrition
Biography
Eating behaviors are complex traits that involve both biological and environmental influences. My laboratory studies eating behaviors in young children, in particular, how do they develop and how are they related to risk for obesity later in life. We are using techniques such as brain imaging and genetic screening of taste polymorphisms to provide insight into the biological underpinnings of eating behaviors and food preferences in children. Also, we are researching the impact of food marketing and branding on these eating behaviors.
Education (2)
Rutgers University: Ph.D., Nutritional Sciences 2002
New York Nutrition Obesity Research Center: Post-Doctoral Fellowship 2005
Focus in pediatric eating behavior and obesity
Links (2)
Media Appearances (3)
Helping children make healthy eating choices
Penn State News online
2017-01-03
Childhood obesity rates have more than doubled in the last 30 years, with pre-adolescence emerging as a critical window for preventing excess weight gain. In a new Penn State project, researchers are investigating why some children are more prone to weight gain than others, by studying how children’s brains respond to food portion size.
New research finds brain activation in children viewing large portions of food
Penn State News online
2016-12-14
Viewing large portions of high-calorie food activates reward and sensory processing areas in children’s brains, according to a Penn State study.
Kathleen Keller to receive Norman Kretchmar Memorial Award
Penn State News online
2014-03-26
Kathleen Keller, the Mark T. Greenberg Early Career Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State, has been selected by the American Society of Nutrition (ASN) as the recipient of the 2014 Norman Kretchmer Memorial Award in Nutrition and Development. The award is given to a young investigator for a substantial body of independent research in the field of nutrition and development with a potential relevance to improving child health.
Articles (5)
Variation in the Ability to Taste Bitter Thiourea Compounds: Implications for Food Acceptance, Dietary Intake, and Obesity Risk in Children
Annual Review of Nutrition
Kathleen L. Keller and Shana Adise
2016 The ability to taste bitter thiourea compounds, such as phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP), is inherited. Polymorphisms in the bitter-taste receptor TAS2R38 explain the majority of phenotypic variation in the PROP phenotype. It has been hypothesized that the PROP phenotype is a marker for perception of a variety of chemosensory experiences. In this review, we discuss studies that have investigated the relationship between bitter-taste response and dietary behaviors and chronic health in children. Investigators have hypothesized that children who are PROP tasters have lower liking and consumption of bitter foods, such as cruciferous vegetables. Additionally, several studies suggest that children who are unable to taste PROP (i.e., nontasters) like and consume more dietary fat and are prone to obesity. The relationship between the PROP phenotype and obesity is influenced by multiple confounders, including sex, food access, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Future studies that adjust for these variables are needed.
Brain response to images of food varying in energy density is associated with body composition in 7- to 10-year-old children: Results of an expoloratory study
Physiology & Behavior
Fearnbach SN, English LK, Lasschuijt M, Wilson SJ, Savage JS, Fisher JO, Rolls BJ, Keller KL
2016 Energy balance is regulated by a multifaceted system of physiological signals that influence energy intake and expenditure. Therefore, variability in the brain's response to food may be partially explained by differences in levels of metabolically active tissues throughout the body, including fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM). The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that children's body composition would be related to their brain response to food images varying in energy density (ED), a measure of energy content per weight of food. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain response to High (> 1.5 kcal/g) and Low (< 1.5 kcal/g) ED food images, and Control images, in 36 children ages 7–10 years. Body composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Multi-subject random effects general linear model (GLM) and two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test for main effects of ED (High ED vs. Low ED) in a priori defined brain regions of interest previously implicated in energy homeostasis and reward processing. Pearson's correlations were then calculated between activation in these regions for various contrasts (High ED–Low ED, High ED–Control, Low ED–Control) and child body composition (FFM index, FM index, % body fat). Relative to Low ED foods, High ED foods elicited greater BOLD activation in the left thalamus. In the right substantia nigra, BOLD activation for the contrast of High ED–Low ED foods was positively associated with child FFM. There were no significant results for the High ED–Control or Low ED–Control contrasts. Our findings support literature on FFM as an appetitive driver, such that greater amounts of lean mass were associated with greater activation for High ED foods in an area of the brain associated with dopamine signaling and reward (substantia nigra). These results confirm our hypothesis that brain response to foods varying in energy content is related to measures of child body composition.
Double trouble: Portion size and energy density combine to increase preschool children's lunch intake
Physiology & Behavior
Kling SM, Roe LS, Keller KL, Rolls BJ
2016 Both portion size and energy density (ED) have substantial effects on intake; however, their combined effects on preschool children's intake have not been examined when multiple foods are varied at a meal.
The impact of doll style of dress and familiarity on body dissatisfaction in 6-8 year-old girls
Body Image
Jellenik RD, Myer TA, Keller KL
2016 We tested the impact of exposure to dolls of different body types and wardrobes on girls’ body dissatisfaction. In Study 1, 112 girls (6 to 8 years old) were randomized to one of four conditions: thin (Barbie™) or full-figured (Tracy™) dolls dressed in a swimsuit or modest clothing. In Study 2, a different cohort of girls (n = 112) was exposed to one of four conditions containing unfamiliar dolls of different body size (thin vs. full-figured) and dress (modest vs. swimsuit). In both studies, girls who played with thin dolls experienced higher body size discrepancies than girls who played with full-figured dolls. Girls who played with full-figured dolls showed less body dissatisfaction after doll exposure compared to girls who played with thin dolls. Playing with unrealistically thin dolls may encourage motivation for a thinner shape in young girls.
Reduced neural response to food cues following exercise is accompanied by decreased energy intake in obese adolescents
International Journal of Obesity
Fearnbach SN, Silvert L, Keller KL, Genin PM, Morio B, Pereira B, Duclos M, Boirie Y, Thivel D
2016 Acute exercise has been found to favor a transient anorexigenic effect in obese adolescents. Although the role of some gastro-peptides has been suggested as an explanation for this observed reduced energy intake after exercise, it is unknown whether neural pathways involved in the regulation of food intake are modulated in youth.