The concept of food addiction (FA) has become central in recent years in understanding the psychological etiology of obesity. In this matched case-control study from Turkey, it was aimed to examine the prevalence of FA and related risk factors in four consecutive body mass index (BMI) categories. The case group consisted of pre-operative bariatric surgery patients with BMI over 35.0 kg/m2 (n = 40) and the control group was composed of age- and gender- matching individuals from the other categories, namely obese (n = 35), overweight (n = 40), and normal weight (n = 40). The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and a standardized clinical interview using the DSM-5 substance use disorders criteria adopted for FA, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDEQ) and the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11) were used as assessment instruments. It was found that FA was significantly associated with more serious eating pathologies, more frequent weight-cycling and earlier onset of dieting, higher impulsivity, and higher BMI. Motor and total impulsivity scores showed a positive albeit week correlation with the severity of FA but no significant correlation with BMI, indicating a relationship between impulsivity and weight gain in some but not all individuals. The severity of FA predicted the increase in BMI. Our findings suggest that FA is associated with weight gain in a group of individuals, plausibly through impulsive overeating. Emphasis on FA and its clinical implications such as addiction-based treatments may improve outcomes in obesity and facilitate health promotion.
Background: Misperceptions on the higher rates of peer alcohol use are predictive of increased personal use among university students. Objectives: This study aims to assess the prevalence, perceived peers' social norms and other predictors of alcohol use in a sample of Turkish university students. Methods: This study is established upon the baseline Turkish data on alcohol use of the project Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE (SNIPE). The data was obtained by a self-reported, online questionnaire from 858 students of Marmara University who were registered to the study web page. Results: Alcohol use and drunkenness rates were 62.6%, and 40.9%, respectively. Twenty point two percent of students reported drinking alcohol at least once a week in the last two months. Majority of students (70.4%) reported that religion has an important or very important role in their lives. Perceived higher frequency of peer alcohol use (p<0.000) and drunkenness (p<0.000) were significantly associated with personal alcohol use frequency. Tobacco use rate was 60.2% and positively associated with alcohol use frequency (p<0.000). In all participants, male gender (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.07-2.28), giving less importance to religion (OR: 20.91; 95% CI: 10.95-39.95), tobacco use everyday/almost everyday (OR: 17.88; 95% CI: 9.33-34.29), perceived positive peer attitude towards alcohol use (OR: 2.192; 95% CI: 1.25-3.82) and perceived higher frequency of peer alcohol use (OR: 3.487; 95% CI: 1.66-7.31) were found to be associated risk factors for alcohol use. Age (OR: 1.186, CI 95%: 1.03-1.36) and perceived positive peer attitude towards alcohol use (OR: 3.86, CI 95%: 1.84-8.09) were the additional risk factors among female student whereas perceived positive peer alcohol use frequency (OR: 8.08, CI 95%: 2.40-27.10) among male students. Discussion: As the first study conducted in Turkey applying social norms theory, our results indicate the noticeable misperceptions of students regarding their peers' alcohol use. Based on our results, targeting both tobacco and alcohol use, and a gender-sensitive approach employing social norms interventions may enhance the preventive strategies for risky alcohol use among university students.
In this tudy, it was aimed to investigate the association/s between dopamine
transporter gene (DAT1), dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1), dopamine receptor D2
(DRD2), dopamine receptor D3 (DRD3), dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene
variants and adult Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A
prospective analytical case control study. A total of 128 ADHD cases and 100
non-ADHD controls from Western population of Turkey were included in this
study. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood. Genotype and allele frequency
P-values were calculated by Chi square (c2) and Fisher Exact tests. Other
statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS program version 20.0. The
genotypes for the DAT1, DRD2, DRD3 and DRD4 variants were identified by
polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length
polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). 4R allele and 4R/4R genotype of Exon 3 VNTR
polymorphism in the DRD4 gene were observed to be the most frequent one in
both case and control groups. 4R allele was found to be statistically
significant in ADHD group than the ones in control group (p=0.01). No
statistical differences in the genotype and allele frequencies were observed
between ADHD cases versus non-ADHD controls for DAT1, DRD2 and DRD3
polymorphisms. A statistically significant association was found only
between DRD4 Exon 3 VNTR polymorphism and adult ADHD. However, to confirm
that these gene variants contributes to ADHD and ADHD-subtypes, further
studies with both higher population sizes and many candidate genes are
needed to be investigated simultaneously.
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