FOOD ADDICTION IN PATIENTS WITH OBESITY

Abstract

Abstract Background: Food Addiction (FA) is based on the fact that similar behaviors are found and identical neurological pathways are activated in both food intake and psychoactive substance use. FA could explain the difficulties with the control of food consumption, failures in attempts to reduce food intake and the inability to abstain or reduce specific type of food. Excessive sugar, fat or salt content in processed food could be significant components of FA due to the activation of the reward circuit in the same way as by other psychoactive substances. The prevalence and the role of FA in obesity remain unclear and need to be evaluated. Objective: The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of food addiction in patient with obesity and to evaluate the relationship between food addiction and different aspects of eating disorders. Material and methods: We prospectively evaluated 93 patients with obesity (39 males and 54 females, age 44 ± 13 yrs, BMI: 38.8 ± 8 kg/m2). The French version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) was used for both the diagnosis and the severity of food addiction assessment. The diagnosis of FA was met if participants endorsed three or more criteria as well as at least one of the two clinically significant items (impairment or distress). The severity of FA was a simple sum of the seven diagnostic criteria. Different aspects related to eating disorders were evaluated by the French version of the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2) questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of FA was 32% among the participants and according to the YFAS score. In a simple regression analysis, we have seen a positive relationship between the severity of FA and the severity of bulimia (p<0.001, r2=0.10). The same positive relationship was seen between the severity of FA and the difficulties in recognizing and accurately identify the emotions and sensations of hunger and satiety, namely the interoceptive awareness (p=0.03, r2=0.04). Conclusion: The highlighting of two aspects related to eating disorder, the bulimia and the difficulties with interoceptive awareness, could give some information for more adapted care for patients with FA, focused on both the treatment of bulimia and the reconnection with hunger and satiety.