A qualitative study of overweight and obese Australians' views of food addiction

Abstract

23The concept of food addiction is increasingly used in the academic literature and 24 popular media to explain some forms of overweight and obesity. However, there is 25 limited evidence on how this term is understood by and impacts overweight and obese 26 individuals. This qualitative study investigated the views of overweight and obese 27 individuals on food addiction, and its likely impact upon stigma, treatment-seeking, and and personal responsibility. Some participants believed "sugar" or "fat" addiction to be 33 more accurate. Others were reluctant to be described as an "addict" owing to perceived 34 negative connotations and the belief that it would increase self-stigma. Food addiction 35 was seen as a motivator for seeking psychological services, but not pharmaceutical or 36 surgical treatments. In light of food addiction being perceived as plausible and relevant, 37 participants supported targeted public health policies (e.g., taxes, regulations for junk 38 food container sizes) but did not believe these would affect their own purchasing or 39 consumption behaviours. Education for interpreting food labels and reducing the costs 40 of healthy foods were endorsed, leading to positive changes in food-related behaviours. 41This research suggests discretionary use of the food addiction label in a supportive and 42 educational manner to minimise stigma while encouraging treatment-seeking.

Ethical, Stigma, and Policy Implications of Food Addiction: A Scoping Review

“…Whereas a food addiction explanation for obesity was found to reduce externalized stigma and blame towards a target in one study [45], another study found that labeling an individual as an “obese food addict” created an additive stigma that exceeded the stigma associated with either label on its own [40]. This finding is consistent with a recent qualitative study of individuals with obesity, which noted that some individuals who personally identified with the concept of food addiction felt reluctant to be described as an “addict” because they believed the label would increase self-stigma and stigma from others [43]. Interestingly, the one study identified through our scoping review that examined the association between food addiction and externalized stigma in a clinical sample found that patients with greater severity of food addiction reported greater anti-fat attitudes towards other individuals with excess weight [39].…”

“…Additional articles supported early intervention efforts through increased regulation of pleasurable foods in children and youth settings such as schools, implementation of programs promoting healthy eating and food choices, and engagement of pediatricians and family physicians [65,66]. In contrast, a recent qualitative study with 23 individuals with obesity showed that individuals were skeptical about the effectiveness of restrictions on highly pleasurable foods, although they supported addictive food restrictions for children [43]. Nonetheless, reviews generally supported external control of addictive foods based on examples where cigarette smokers perceived external control as being influential or effective compared to individual motivating factors (e.g., willpower, personal choice) [67,68].…”

The Cognitive Drivers of Compulsive Eating Behavior

“…These include: (1) eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED); (2) obesity; and (3) food addiction (FA), which have very different diagnostic considerations (Table 1). However, is it important to acknowledge that the validity of FA is a highly debated and controversial concept within the scientific community (Ziauddeen and Fletcher, 2013; Hebebrand et al, 2014; Cullen et al, 2017). In this review article, we examine the cognitive underpinnings of this transdiagnostic compulsive eating phenotype.…”

Living with obesity — existential experiences

“…Research has documented a wide range of contemporary perspectives connected to obesity (Curtis & Davis, 2014;Duarte, Pinto-Gouveia, & Ferreira, 2014;Hernandez-Hons & Woolley, 2012 a diagnostic approach using defining terms such as "binge eating" or "food addiction" (Curtis & Davis, 2014;Duarte et al, 2014). The concept of "food addiction" is increasingly employed in the academic literature, (Cullen et al, 2017).…”