Prefrontal cortex immaturity and reward circuit hijacking: Why anti-obesity policies fail to protect children from ultra-processed food overconsumption
Abstract
The prevalence of obesity in pediatric populations has reached epidemic levels, largely due to consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), whose formulations are optimized for hyperpalatability and promote overconsumption in children and adolescents due to neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities. The prefrontal cortex, which governs planning, decision-making, and impulse control, reaches full maturity around 25 years of age. Children and adolescents have limited self-regulatory capacity, as their reward circuitry responds excessively to palatable stimuli. The high palatability and marketing of UPFs may interact with this neurobiological imbalance, triggering dopamine release and promoting addictive-like eating behaviors. Despite public health interventions such as front-of-package labeling, nutrient-based taxes, and restrictions on child-targeted marketing, evidence suggests these measures have had modest impact on consumption patterns. We hypothesize that the limited success of these approaches may be explained by their failure to address the underlying neurobiological mechanisms driving excessive consumption. Therefore, a paradigm shift toward parental education programs that foster healthy home food environments and promote early self-regulation skills is warranted, combined with family-based behavioral treatment. Finally, the potential role of pharmacological agents (e.g., glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists) that target the reward system in cases of severe pediatric compulsive overconsumption warrants future research, given the limited safety data in children.
Related
- Curbing ultra-processed foods: impact of fiscal policies and mandatory warning labels
- Early-life high-fat diet accelerates the development of vagal satiation signaling and predisposes females to overconsumption
- Hijacking of neural circuits by malignant glioma: mechanistic insights and clinical implications
- Pseudorabies virus pUL40 drives inflammatory signaling through competitive hijacking of EphA2 from the Akt–EphA2 interaction
- Hijacking of host PCNA by circovirus replication-associated protein to recruit POLD1 drives viral DNA replication and is inhibited by R428
BibTeX
@article{vargasvargas2026prefrontal,
title = {{Prefrontal cortex immaturity and reward circuit hijacking: Why anti-obesity policies fail to protect children from ultra-processed food overconsumption}},
author = {Manuel Alejandro Vargas-Vargas and Marcela González-Montoya and Olin Torres-Isidro and Ana Paula Martínez-González and María Guadalupe Cuiniche-Méndez and Danna Paola García-Romero and Miguel Angel Reyes-Orozco and Elizabeth Calderón-Cortés and Alain Raimundo Rodríguez-Orozco and Christian Cortés-Rojo},
journal = {World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.5409/wjcp.120921},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5409/wjcp.120921},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Prefrontal cortex immaturity and reward circuit hijacking: Why anti-obesity policies fail to protect children from ultra-processed food overconsumption
AU - Manuel Alejandro Vargas-Vargas
AU - Marcela González-Montoya
AU - Olin Torres-Isidro
AU - Ana Paula Martínez-González
AU - María Guadalupe Cuiniche-Méndez
AU - Danna Paola García-Romero
AU - Miguel Angel Reyes-Orozco
AU - Elizabeth Calderón-Cortés
AU - Alain Raimundo Rodríguez-Orozco
AU - Christian Cortés-Rojo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
JO - World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics
DO - 10.5409/wjcp.120921
UR - https://doi.org/10.5409/wjcp.120921
AB - The prevalence of obesity in pediatric populations has reached epidemic levels, largely due to consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), whose formulations are optimized for hyperpalatability and promote overconsumption in children and adolescents due to neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities. The prefrontal cortex, which governs planning, decision-making, and impulse control, reaches full maturity around 25 years of age. Children and adolescents have limited self-regulatory capacity, as their reward circuitry responds excessively to palatable stimuli. The high palatability and marketing of UPFs may interact with this neurobiological imbalance, triggering dopamine release and promoting addictive-like eating behaviors. Despite public health interventions such as front-of-package labeling, nutrient-based taxes, and restrictions on child-targeted marketing, evidence suggests these measures have had modest impact on consumption patterns. We hypothesize that the limited success of these approaches may be explained by their failure to address the underlying neurobiological mechanisms driving excessive consumption. Therefore, a paradigm shift toward parental education programs that foster healthy home food environments and promote early self-regulation skills is warranted, combined with family-based behavioral treatment. Finally, the potential role of pharmacological agents (e.g., glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists) that target the reward system in cases of severe pediatric compulsive overconsumption warrants future research, given the limited safety data in children.
SN - 2219-2808
ER -