Food addiction: A key factor contributing to obesity?

Abstract

Background: People may develop addiction to hyperpalatable foods, which may be a cause of obesity. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity among adolescents and the effect of food addiction on obesity. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, food addiction and obesity status of high school students were investigated. Among 17,000 10 th and 11 th grade students, assuming the design effect as 2.0, with obesity prevalence of 10%, with 3% error, and 95% confidence interval, at least 752 participants were included. Obesity was the dependent variable, whereas sociodemographic characteristics, body image, eating habits, and food addiction were the independent variables. Food addiction was assessed using the Yale Food Addiction Scale. Obesity was determined by age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) percentiles for adolescents < 18 years of age and BMI ≥ 30.0 for those aged ≥ 18. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0. After adjustment for age, sex, and other variables, the effect of food addiction on obesity was determined through logistic regression. P <0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Results: Among adolescents ( n = 874), 18.9% were food addict, 25.1% were overweight, and 12.1% were obese. After adjusted for age, sex, and other variables, food addiction significantly increased the risk of obesity (odds ratio: 1.9; 95% confidence interval: 1.167–3.335). Having a fragmented family, working mother, overweight father, and participants not knowing their weight correctly significantly increased obesity. Conclusion: While quarter of the adolescents had weight problems, one-fifth suffered from food addiction. After adjusting for confounders, food addiction significantly increased obesity. Identifying individuals with food addiction, providing treatment to overcome that, paying special attention to adolescents with obese parents or living in fragmented families, and providing support to both parents and adolescents could be useful in tackling obesity.

An addiction‐based digital weight loss intervention: A multi‐centre randomized controlled trial

“…Primarily, the app intervention emphasizes behavioural strategies aimed at withdrawal/abstinence from self‐identified problem foods, withdrawal/abstinence from snacking and excessive amounts at meals, and alternative non‐food related activities to displace discomfort 17,18 . Despite controversies over the construct of food addiction, there is growing interest in understanding how addictive‐like eating behaviours in adolescents impact weight loss trajectory in response to interventions 38‐43 . The components of this app intervention harness tools utilized in addiction medicine, such as cognitive behavioural therapy based skills training to assist with identifying and coping with triggers, establish behavioural coping strategies that are incompatible with over‐eating, increase non‐food sources of pleasure and reward, and bolstering social support for reducing addictive‐like eating behaviours.…”

Clinical Features of Gambling Disorder Patients with and Without Food Addiction: Gender-Related Considerations

“…Higher psychopathology, particularly depressive and anxiety symptoms, and some specific personality features, such as low self-directedness and perseverance or high reward dependence, have been linked to FA in both medical and mental conditions (Brunault et al, 2018;Imperatori, 2014;Wolz et al, 2016). FA may impact global health, with a special influence on BMI and overweight/obesity (Murphy et al, 2014;Meseri et al, 2020). Our findings among GD patients suggest a poor socioeconomic context and work difficulties (e.g., unemployment), higher emotional vulnerability (e.g., anxiety and depressive symptoms, particularly for women) and poor adaptive coping strategies to deal with stress (e.g., higher harm avoidance and lower self-directedness and cooperativeness) may characterize GD patients with FA.…”

Food addiction behavior in patients with newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes

“…5 Casi 90 % de los casos de DMT2 se atribuye al sobrepeso. 6 En 2010, aproximadamente 8 % de la población mundial presentaba intolerancia a la glucosa y obesidad asociadas al síndrome metabólico. 7 Una de las características de los pacientes con DMT2 es su conducta alimentaria, la cual influye en el consumo de energía a través de elecciones acerca de dónde y cuándo comer, el tipo y la cantidad de comida, incluyendo las decisiones acerca de cuándo comenzar y parar de comer.…”