Hardy, R., Fani, N., Jovanovic, T., & Michopoulos, V. (2018). Food addiction and substance addiction in women: Common clinical characteristics. Appetite, 120, 367–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.09.026 From the research article’s abstract: “Food addiction is characterized by poorly controlled intake of highly-palatable, calorically-dense, foods. While previous studies indicate that risk factors for food addiction are similar to substance use disorders (SUD), these studies have looked at food addiction and SUD in independent samples, limiting the ability to directly compare food addiction to SUD. The present study was conducted to assess rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression,
Food addiction and bariatric surgery: a systematic review of the literature
Ivezaj, V., Wiedemann, A. A., & Grilo, C. M. (2017). Food addiction and bariatric surgery: a systematic review of the literature. Obesity Reviews, 18(12), 1386–1397. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12600 From the research article’s summary: “Emerging research suggests that rates of food addiction are high among individuals seeking bariatric surgery, but little is known about associated features and the prognostic significance of pre-operative food addiction. Thus, this article provides a systematic review and synthesis of the literature on food addiction and bariatric surgery. Articles were identified through PubMed and SCOPUS databases, resulting in a total of 19 studies which assessed food addiction among pre-bariatric and/or post-bariatric surgery patients using the Yale Food Addiction Scale. Most studies were cross-sectional, and only two studies prospectively measured food addiction both pre-operatively and post-operatively. The presence of pre-surgical food addiction was not associated with pre-surgical weight or post-surgical weight outcomes, yet pre-surgical food addiction was related to broad levels of psychopathology.
Brain on Fire: Incentive Salience, Hedonic Hot Spots, Dopamine, Obesity, and Other Hunger Games
Cameron, J. D., Chaput, J. P., Sjödin, A. M., & Goldfield, G. S. (2017). Brain on Fire: Incentive Salience, Hedonic Hot Spots, Dopamine, Obesity, and Other Hunger Games. Annual Review of Nutrition, 37, 183-205. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nutr-071816-064855 Conclusion “This review examines human feeding behavior in light of psychological motivational theory and highlights the importance of midbrain dopamine (DA). Prospective evidence of both reward surfeit and reward deficit pathways to increased body weight are evaluated, and we argue that it is more complex than an either/or scenario when examining DA’s role in reward sensitivity, eating, and obesity. The Taq1A genotype is a common thread that ties the contrasting models of DA reward and obesity; this genotype related to striatal DA is not associated with obesity class per se but may nevertheless confer an increased risk of weight gain. We also critically examine the concept of so-called food addiction, and despite growing evidence, we argue that there is currently insufficient human data to warrant this diagnostic label. The surgical and pharmacological treatments of obesity are discussed, and evidence is presented for the selective use of DA-class drugs in obesity treatment.”
Food Addiction: A Barrier for Effective Weight Management for Obese Adolescents
Tompkins, C. L., Laurent, J., & Brock, D. W. (2017). Food Addiction: A Barrier for Effective Weight Management for Obese Adolescents. Childhood Obesity, 13(6), 462-469. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2017.0003 From the research article’s abstract: “Background: Findings from studies of food addiction in adults suggest those with food addiction are less successful in weight-loss interventions. Little is known about food addiction in obesity treatment-seeking adolescents; therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of food addiction and correlates of food addiction symptoms in obese adolescents entering an outpatient, weight management program. Methods: Obese adolescents (n = 26) were administered the Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (YFAS-C), measures of appetitive responsiveness, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) before and following a 12-week, outpatient, behavioral weight management program. Descriptive statistics and correlations between YFAS-C symptoms and study variables were performed and further examined with linear regression.
A narrative review of potential treatment strategies for food addiction
Vella, S. C., & Pai, N. B. (2017). A narrative review of potential treatment strategies for food addiction. Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 22(3), 387–393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-017-0400-2 From the research article’s abstract: “The concept of food addiction (FA) remains controversial with research being in the nascent stages; FA like any addiction can have a devastating impact on the lives of those afflicted. There exists a clinical need for treatment strategies for those affected. This article reviews potential treatment strategies for FA. The treatment strategies target four core behaviours of the addiction phenotype specifically craving through the opioid system, impulsivity as a personality trait, compulsivity through the serotonergic system and lastly motivation through the dopaminergic system. A range of pharmacological and psychological interventions are reviewed. Future research should seek to test and validate the proposed clinical treatment strategies.”
New Evidence Linking Obesity and Food Addiction
Cope, E. C., & Gould, E. (2017). New Evidence Linking Obesity and Food Addiction. Biol Psychiatry, 81(9), 734-736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.02.1179 From the commentary’s text: “Because the global obesity epidemic is generally believed to be caused by excessive caloric intake, there has been increasing interest in understanding the neurobiological mechanisms contributing to overeating, defined as continued eating in the absence of metabolic necessity leading to weight gain.”
Obesity and addiction: can a complication of surgery help us understand the connection?
Ivezaj, V., Stoeckel, L. E., Avena, N. M., Benoit, S. C., Conason, A., Davis, J. F., Gearhardt, A. N., Goldman, R., Mitchell, J. E., Ochner, C. N., Saules, K. K., Steffen, K. J., Stice, E., & Sogg, S. (2017). Obesity and addiction: can a complication of surgery help us understand the connection? Obesity Reviews, 18(7), 765–775. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12542 From the research article’s summary: “Obesity is a multifactorial, chronic disease that has proven difficult to treat. An increased understanding of aetiological mechanisms is critical to the development of more effective obesity prevention and treatment strategies. A growing body of empirical evidence has demonstrated parallels between obesity, overeating and substance abuse, including shared behavioural, psychological and neurophysiological factors implicated in the excessive intake of both food and substances of abuse. Several different lines of research have recently emerged that hold the potential to shed light on the connection between obesity, food reward and addiction, with studies examining changes in alcohol use/misuse after weight loss surgery providing a particularly interesting perspective on these interrelationships. However, these lines of investigation have proceeded in relative isolation, and relevant research findings have yet to be integrated in a synthesized, comprehensive manner.
Self-perceived food addiction: Prevalence, predictors, and prognosis
Meadows, A., Nolan, L. J., & Higgs, S. (2017). Self-perceived food addiction: Prevalence, predictors, and prognosis. Appetite, 114, 282–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.03.051 From the research article’s abstract: “Food addiction is controversial within the scientific community. However many lay people consider themselves addicted to certain foods. We assessed the prevalence and characteristics of self-perceived “food addiction” and its relationship to a diagnostic measure of “clinical food addiction” in two samples: (1) 658 university students, and (2) 614 adults from an international online crowdsourcing platform. Participants indicated whether they considered themselves to be addicted to food, and then completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale, measures of eating behavior, body image, and explicit and internalized weight stigma. Participants in the community sample additionally completed measures of impulsivity, food cravings, binge eating, and depressive symptomatology.
Effective behaviour change techniques for physical activity and healthy eating in overweight and obese adults; systematic review and meta-regression analyses
Samdal, G. B., Eide, G. E., Barth, T., Williams, G., & Meland, E. (2017). Effective behaviour change techniques for physical activity and healthy eating in overweight and obese adults; systematic review and meta-regression analyses. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14(1), 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0494-y From the research article’s abstract: “Purpose: This systematic review aims to explain the heterogeneity in results of interventions to promote physical activity and healthy eating for overweight and obese adults, by exploring the differential effects of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) and other intervention characteristics. Methods: The inclusion criteria specified RCTs with ≥ 12 weeks’ duration, from January 2007 to October 2014, for adults (mean age ≥ 40 years, mean BMI ≥ 30). Primary outcomes were measures of healthy diet or physical activity. Two reviewers rated study quality, coded the BCTs, and collected outcome results at short (≤6 months) and long term (≥12 months). Meta-analyses and meta-regressions were used to estimate effect sizes (ES), heterogeneity indices (I2) and regression coefficients. Results: We included 48 studies containing a total of 82 outcome reports. The 32 long term reports had an overall ES = 0.24 with 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.15 to 0.33 and I2 = 59.4%.
Prevalence of ‘Food Addiction’ as Measured with the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 in a Representative German Sample and Its Association with Sex, Age and Weight Categories
Hauck, C., Weiss, A., Schulte, E. M., Meule, A., & Ellrott, T. (2017). Prevalence of ‘Food Addiction’ as Measured with the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 in a Representative German Sample and Its Association with Sex, Age and Weight Categories. Obesity facts, 10(1), 12–24. https://doi.org/10.1159/000456013 From the cross-sectional study’s abstract: “The prevalence of ‘food addiction’ measured by the YFAS 2.0 was 7.9%. Individuals meeting criteria for ‘food addiction’ had higher BMI and were younger than individuals not meeting the threshold.”