Food addiction in a large community sample of Canadian adults: prevalence and relationship with obesity, body composition, quality of life and impulsivity

Abstract

Background and aims Parallels between the persistent overconsumption of food and addictive drugs have given rise to the notion of food addiction. In a large community sample of Canadian adults, the current study examined the prevalence of food addiction and its relationship with obesity, quality of life and multiple indicators of impulsivity. A secondary goal was to analyze differences between obese and non‐obese individuals with and without food addiction. Design Cross‐sectional in‐person assessment. Setting Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Participants A total of 1432 community adults (age = mean ± standard deviation = 38.93 ± 13.7; 42% male) recruited from the general community using print, bus and internet advertisements. Measurements Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0, anthropometrics (including body mass index), body composition (e.g. body fat, muscle mass, body water), World Health Organization Quality of Life scale and impulsivity measures, including impulsive personality traits, delay discounting and behavioral inhibition. Findings The prevalence of food addiction was 9.3% and substantially below that of obesity (32.7%), although food addiction was significantly more common among obese individuals (18.5%, P < 0.001). Food addiction was associated with significantly lower quality of life in all domains (βs = −0.21 to −0.34, Ps < 0.001) and significantly higher impulsive personality traits, particularly negative and positive urgency (βs = 0.37 and 0.30, Ps < 0.001). Subgroup contrasts within both the obese and non‐obese strata revealed that food addiction was associated with significantly lower quality of life in all domains (Ps < 0.001). Food addiction among non‐obese individuals was also associated with higher body mass index (P < 0.001). Conclusion In a general community sample, food addiction was present in slightly fewer than one in 10 individuals, approximately one‐third the prevalence of obesity, but with twice the prevalence among obese individuals. Food addiction appears to be associated with substantively lower quality of life and elevations in impulsivity, particularly in deficits in emotional regulation.

Prevalence of food addiction determined by the Yale Food Addiction Scale and associated factors: A systematic review with meta‐analysis

“…It is believed that this addiction‐like behaviour may explain the relative failure of clinical behavioural therapies for weight loss, based on energy restriction and physical exercise, which induce an average weight loss of 2 kg in 2 years in primary care (Booth et al., 2014). In addition, other implications are related to FA such as a higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms (Burrows, Skinner, et al., 2017; Gearhardt et al., 2009; Meule & Gearhardt, 2014), increased visceral adiposity and links to ED such as binge eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN) (Burrows et al., 2018; Burrows, Hides, et al., 2017; Meule & Gearhardt, 2014), substance use disorders (Canan et al., 2017), as well as a worse quality of life (Minhas et al., 2021; Nunes‐Neto et al., 2018; Zhao et al., 2018) and increased impulsivity (Minhas et al., 2021).…”

Linking drug and food addiction via compulsive appetite

“…Indeed, binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa are marked by compulsive appetite but not necessarily obesity (Udo & Grilo, 2018), and obesity is not part of the diagnostic criteria for these disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). However, mechanisms leading to obesity may also manifest as compulsive appetite, as subsets ($30%) of obese individuals exhibit compulsive eating (Gearhardt et al, 2016;Minhas et al, 2021).…”

“…Indeed, binge‐eating disorder and bulimia nervosa are marked by compulsive appetite but not necessarily obesity (Udo & Grilo, 2018), and obesity is not part of the diagnostic criteria for these disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). However, mechanisms leading to obesity may also manifest as compulsive appetite, as subsets (~30%) of obese individuals exhibit compulsive eating (Gearhardt et al, 2016; Minhas et al, 2021). Taken together, like drug addiction, ‘food addiction’ is perhaps better defined as a disorder of compulsive appetite, as seen in subsets of eating disorder patients and obese individuals, than as a disorder of obesity in general, which is a heterogeneous, multifaceted condition.…”

Associação da dependência alimentar com o estado nutricional e os níveis de pressão arterial de usuários adultos da atenção básica do município de Lajeado - RS / Association of food dependence with the nutritional status and blood pressure levels of adult users of basic care in the municipality of Lajeado – RS

“…Na população analisada neste estudo, a maioria dos indivíduos apresentou excesso de peso. Em relação à população mundial (WHO, 2020), a referida amostra apresentou uma porcentagem inferior de indivíduos em sobrepeso e mais que o dobro da porcentagem No entanto, apesar de na literatura científica ser possível observar associação entre a prevalência de dependência alimentar e o estado nutricional em indivíduos com sobrepeso e obesidade, existem relações deste fenômeno com indivíduos abaixo do peso, indicando que a dependência alimentar não é sinônimo de obesidade, mas uma alteração do comportamento alimentar (HAUCK et al, 2017;PURSEY et al, 2014;GEARHARDT, 2017;MINHAS et al, 2021). A dependência alimentar tem sido associada também a um comportamento de desregulação emocional e impulsividade (SCHULTE; GEARHARDT, 2021), sendo demonstrado que a prevalência da mesma é maior em indivíduos adictos (TINGHINO et al, 2021).…”