Abstract
Background and aimsThe concept of "Food Addiction" has been based on criteria of Substance Use Disorder. Several studies suggested a relationship between food addiction and eating disorders, but little is known about its extent or role.We aim at exploring if food addiction is coincident with a specific eating disorder (binge eating disorder appears the closest) or it is a separate diagnostic entity that afflicts in comorbidity with eating disorders or other conditions like obesity or even in the general population.MethodsThis systematic review and meta-analysis analyzed observational studies with a comparative estimation on rates of subjects affected by binge eating disorder and food addiction.ResultsBinge eating disorder shows higher comorbidity with food addiction compared to other eating disorders (OR = 1.33, 95% CI, 0.64–2.76; c2 = 4.42; p = 0.44;I2 = 0%), or each eating disorder [anorexia nervosa purging type (OR = 1.93, 95% CI, 0.20–18.92; p = 0.57) and restrictive type (OR = 8.75, 95% CI, 1.08–70.70; p = 0.04)], obese patients (OR = 5.72, 95% CI, 3.25–10.09; p = < 0.0001) and individuals from the general population (OR = 55.41, 95% CI, 8.16–376.10; c2 = 18.50; p < 0.0001; I2 = 0%)but has decreased prevalence when compared to bulimia nervosa (OR = 0.85, 95% CI, 0.33–2.22; c2 = 0.35; p = 0.74; I2 = 0%).Discussion and conclusionsOur data show that the prevalence of food addiction in binge eating disorder is higher than in other eating disorders except in bulimia nervosa. Moreover, it is a separate diagnostic reality and can be detected in people without mental illness and in the general population.Food addiction might have a prognostic value, since in comorbidity, and should be addressed to boost treatment efficacy and patient’s recovery.Level of evidenceI: Evidence obtained systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Highlights
Background and aimsThe concept of "Food Addiction" has been based on criteria of Substance Use Disorder
The need of a better definition of this behavioral model led to the formulation of the concept of "Food Addiction" which gained a growing interest in the scientific literature focused on eating disorders with particular attention to the underlying neurobiological and phenomenological mechanisms [5]
Six studies that involved a total of 2476 subjects (539 affected by binge eating disorder, 178 by bulimia nervosa, 18 by eating disorder NOS, 65 by anorexia nervosa restrictive, 33 by anorexia nervosa purging, 442 subjects with obesity and 1146 people from the general population without eating disorders) were included in the analysis
Summary
Background and aimsThe concept of "Food Addiction" has been based on criteria of Substance Use Disorder. Results Binge eating disorder shows higher comorbidity with food addiction compared to other eating disorders (OR = 1.33, 95% CI, 0.64–2.76; c2 = 4.42; p = 0.44;I2 = 0%), or each eating disorder [anorexia nervosa purging type (OR = 1.93, 95% CI, 0.20–18.92; p = 0.57) and restrictive type (OR = 8.75, 95% CI, 1.08–70.70; p = 0.04)], obese patients (OR = 5.72, 95% CI, 3.25–10.09; p = < 0.0001) and individuals from the general population (OR = 55.41, 95% CI, 8.16–376.10; c2 = 18.50; p < 0.0001; I2 = 0%)but has decreased prevalence when compared to bulimia nervosa (OR = 0.85, 95% CI, 0.33–2.22; c2 = 0.35; p = 0.74; I2 = 0%). Discussion and conclusions Our data show that the prevalence of food addiction in binge eating disorder is higher than in other eating disorders except in bulimia nervosa. It is a separate diagnostic reality and can be detected in people without mental illness and in the general population. Illicit drugs and food exert the same gratifying effect through the activation of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area with consequent release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and effects on the mesolimbic pathway [8]
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