Food Addiction: Its Prevalence and Significant Association with Obesity in the General Population

Pardis Pedram,Wayne Gulliver,Farrell Cahill,Sudesh Vasdev,Guangju Zhai,Jacqueline C Carter,Alan Goodridge,Edward Randell,Guang Sun,Yunqi Ji,Danny Wadden,Peyvand Amini,Jianping Ye

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0074832

Abstract

Background‘Food addiction’ shares a similar neurobiological and behavioral framework with substance addiction. However whether, and to what degree, ‘food addiction’ contributes to obesity in the general population is unknown.Objectivesto assess 1) the prevalence of ‘food addiction’ in the Newfoundland population; 2) if clinical symptom counts of ‘food addiction’ were significantly correlated with the body composition measurements; 3) if food addicts were significantly more obese than controls, and 4) if macronutrient intakes are associated with ‘food addiction’.DesignA total of 652 adults (415 women, 237 men) recruited from the general population participated in this study. Obesity was evaluated by Body Mass Index (BMI) and Body Fat percentage measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. ‘Food addiction’ was assessed using the Yale Food Addiction Scale and macronutrient intake was determined from the Willet Food Frequency Questionnaire.ResultsThe prevalence of ‘food addiction’ was 5.4% (6.7% in females and 3.0% in males) and increased with obesity status. The clinical symptom counts of ‘food addiction’ were positively correlated with all body composition measurements across the entire sample (p<0.001). Obesity measurements were significantly higher in food addicts than controls; Food addicts were 11.7 (kg) heavier, 4.6 BMI units higher, and had 8.2% more body fat and 8.5% more trunk fat. Furthermore, food addicts consumed more calories from fat and protein compared with controls.ConclusionOur results demonstrated that ‘food addiction’ contributes to severity of obesity and body composition measurements from normal weight to obese individuals in the general population with higher rate in women as compared to men.

Highlights

Overweight and obesity are the abnormal or excessive accumulation of adipose tissue generally resulting from a chronic positive energy imbalance[1,2]
Obesity measurements were significantly higher in food addicts than controls; Food addicts were 11.7 heavier, 4.6 Body Mass Index (BMI) units higher, and had 8.2% more body fat and 8.5% more trunk fat
When participants were classified as under/normal weight or overweight/obese based on BMI, the prevalence of ‘food addiction’ was 1.6% and 7.7% in these two groups respectively

Summary

Introduction

Overweight and obesity are the abnormal or excessive accumulation of adipose tissue generally resulting from a chronic positive energy imbalance[1,2]. In the United States, the prevalence of obesity among adults increased by 1.1% between 2007 and 2009. If this trend continues, by 2050 close to 100% of Americans will be overweight or obese [4]. One of the main causes of a chronic energy surplus is a reduced physical activity level owing to a sedentary lifestyle. Another important cause of energy surplus is overeating [8,9]. These individuals chronically consume more food than they need to maintain health and show compulsive intake behaviours associated with loss of control of eating [9,11]

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