Abstract
BackgroundObesity prevalence has substantially increased in China over the past decade. In China, over 1 in 7 individuals meet the criteria for overall obesity, and 1 in 3 meet the criteria for abdominal obesity, obesity has become a significant problem. Studies have shown that food addiction and obesity are inextricably linked. The modified Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (mYFAS 2.0) is a brief measurement for assessing food addiction. This study aimed to explore the structure of the Chinese version of the mYFAS 2.0 and assess the occurrence of food addiction in a sample of college students in Northeast China.MethodsA cross-sectional design was conducted in a sample of 1099 undergraduate students in Northeast China. Participants completed the sociodemographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of the mYFAS 2.0, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-8), and the Self-Esteem Scale (SES) to test the hypothesis. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to examine the underlying factor structure of the mYFAS 2.0. Two weeks later, 62 students who participated in the first test were recruited to evaluate the test–retest reliability.ResultsThe Chinese version of the mYFAS 2.0 demonstrated adequate internal consistency, good test–retest reliability and satisfactory construct validity. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis found that the Chinese version of the mYFAS 2.0 demonstrated a good fit to the two-factor solution identified by the exploratory factor analysis and showed superior fit indices compared to the one-factor model. The prevalence of food addiction in our sample was found to be in line with rates observed in other Asian and Western samples. The mYFAS 2.0 symptom count scores were correlated with BMI, the idea of dieting to lose weight, the desire to overeat, low self-esteem, and impulsivity.ConclusionThe results indicate that the Chinese version of the mYFAS 2.0 has good reliability and validity, and that it can be considered a tool to evaluate the addictive eating behaviours of undergraduate students.
Highlights
Obesity prevalence has substantially increased in China over the past decade
This study examines the construct validity of the Chinese version of the modified YFAS (mYFAS) 2.0 and explores the relationships between food addiction and self-esteem, impulsivity, and other clinical variables
The results show that the Chinese mYFAS 2.0 scale has a two-factor structural solution and has good psychometric characteristics
Summary
Obesity prevalence has substantially increased in China over the past decade. In China, over 1 in 7 individuals meet the criteria for overall obesity, and 1 in 3 meet the criteria for abdominal obesity, obesity has become a significant problem. Evidence is emerging that certain foods, especially those high in refined sugars and fats, may be capable of triggering an addiction-like eating response in vulnerable individuals [3]. Such foods are the same as addictive drugs and alcohol because they can interfere with the reward mechanism of the brain’s limbic system [4]. An argument often used against the notion of food-directed use disorders is the difficulty of identifying which ingredient in the food is responsible. The systems biology model of BGM interactions proposed by Arpana et al provides a reasonable explanation for many hard-to-cure obesity symptoms and a theoretical basis for new treatment strategies [26, 27]
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