Fauconnier, M., et al. (2020). Food Addiction among Female Patients Seeking Treatment for an Eating Disorder: Prevalence and Associated Factors. Nutrients, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061897 From the clinical study’s abstract: “The prevalence of FA diagnosis (Yale Food Addiction Scale) in the whole ED sample was 83.6%; AN restrictive type (AN-R), 61.5%; AN binge-eating/purging type (AN-BP), 87.9%; bulimia nervosa (BN), 97.6%; and binge-eating disorder (BED), 93.3%.”
An evaluation of Food Addiction as a distinct psychiatric disorder
Schulte, E. M., Wadden, T. A., & Allison, K. C. (2020). An evaluation of Food Addiction as a distinct psychiatric disorder. Int J Eat Disord. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23350 Two of the criteria (literature and differentiation) have been empirically supported to extent specified. Two criteria (diagnostic criteria and syndrome) have been partially fulfilled, due to only having self-report assessment measures and no examination of the odds ratios for meeting more than one symptom, respectively. Clinician reliability has not yet been evaluated.The existing literature suggests that Food Addiction may warrant consideration as a proposed diagnostic category in the DSM, though future research is needed to fulfill Blashfield et al.’s (1990; Comprehensive Psychiatry, 31(1), 15–19) criteria. The development of a semi-structured interview would be an impactful contribution for addressing these gaps. Link
Internalized weight stigma and the progression of food addiction over time
Meadows, A., & Higgs, S. (2020). Internalized weight stigma and the progression of food addiction over time. Body Image, 34, 67–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.05.002 From the research article’s abstract: “Food addiction is associated with elevated levels of eating pathology, body image concerns, and internalized weight stigma. The role of internalized weight stigma in the progression of addictive-like eating has not been explored. This longitudinal study explored the relative contributions of weight-related self-devaluation and fear of being stigmatized by others in predicting changes in addictive-like eating behavior over time. 305 young adults (Mage = 18.7 years, SD = 1.1, range 18–28, MBMI = 21.9 kg/m2, SD =3.7 kg/m2, range 13.7–38.9 kg/m2) completed online measures of “food addiction,” weight-related self-devaluation, and fear of stigma from others at two time points (follow-up M = 280 days, SD = 30, range 155–474). At baseline, 7.9 % exhibited clinically relevant addictive-like eating behavior, 40.3 % self-classified as being “addicted to food”, and 51.8 % neither.
Fetal Programming by Methyl Donors Modulates Central Inflammation and Prevents Food Addiction-Like Behavior in Rats
Cruz-Carrillo, G., et al. (2020). Fetal Programming by Methyl Donors Modulates Central Inflammation and Prevents Food Addiction-Like Behavior in Rats. Front Neurosci, 14, 452. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.00452 From the animal study’s text: “Fetal programming by methyl donors actively decreases addiction-like behavior to palatable food in the offspring, which correlates with a decrease in NAc shell methylome, expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes, and activity of phagocytic microglia.”
Food Addiction and Eating Addiction: Scientific Advances and Their Clinical, Social and Policy Implications
Carter, A., Hardman, C. A., & Burrows, T. (2020). Food Addiction and Eating Addiction: Scientific Advances and Their Clinical, Social and Policy Implications. Nutrients, 12(5), 1485. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12051485 “While Food Addiction is not yet recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), there are many similarities with substance use disorders, and a growing acceptance that some forms of obesity should be treated as a Food Addiction.” — From the Abstract
Behavioral Food Addiction During Lockdown: Time for Awareness, Time to Prepare the Aftermath
Cherikh, F., Frey, S., Bel, C., Attanasi, G., Alifano, M., & Iannelli, A. (2020). Behavioral Food Addiction During Lockdown: Time for Awareness, Time to Prepare the Aftermath. Obes Surg, 30(9), 3585-3587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-020-04649-3 From the article’s text: “More than a quarter of the respondents have currently no physical activity, corresponding to another quarter feeling that they lost control of their usual alimentation habits.”
The Mediating Effects of Eating Disorder, Food Addiction, and Insomnia in the Association between Psychological Distress and Being Overweight among Iranian Adolescents
Lin, C. Y., Cheung, P., Imani, V., Griffiths, M. D., & Pakpour, A. H. (2020). The Mediating Effects of Eating Disorder, Food Addiction, and Insomnia in the Association between Psychological Distress and Being Overweight among Iranian Adolescents. Nutrients, 12(5), 1371. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12051371 From the research article’s abstract: “With obesity and excess weight remaining a serious concern worldwide, investigating the mechanisms underlying this is of great importance. Psychological distress is a possible trigger contributing to excess weight for adolescents. Moreover, the association between psychological distress and excess weight may be mediated by eating disorder, food addiction, and insomnia. The present study utilized parallel mediation analysis to assess the aforementioned associations and possible mediation effects among Iranian adolescents. Through stratified and clustered sampling, adolescents (N = 861; mean ± SD age = 15.9 ± 3.2; 372 males) participated and were followed for a one-year period. Excess weight (standardized body mass index, z-BMI); psychological distress (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21); eating disorder attitudes (Eating Attitude Test-26); food addiction (Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children); and insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index) were assessed.
Remission of Food Addiction Does Not Induce Cross-Addiction After Bariatric Surgery
Chiappetta, S., Stier, C., Hadid, M. A., Malo, N., Theodoridou, S., Weiner, R., & Weiner, S. (2020). Remission of Food Addiction Does Not Induce Cross-Addiction after Sleeve Gastrectomy and Gastric Bypass: A Prospective Cohort Study. Obesity Facts, 13(3), 307–320. https://doi.org/10.1159/000506838 From the prospective cohort study’s abstract: “In the YFAS, the percentage of patients diagnosed with food addiction decreased from 69 to 10%, and the mean symptom count decreased from 3.52 ± 1.95 to 1.26 ± 0.99 at T24 (p < 0.0001); these values did not differ between the surgical groups (p = 0.784).”
Development of the Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2.0 summary version in a representative sample of Czech population
Pipová, H., Kaščáková, N., Fürstová, J., & Tavel, P. (2020). Development of the Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2.0 summary version in a representative sample of Czech population. Journal of Eating Disorders, 8, 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-020-00292-6 From the research article’s abstract: “Background: Food addiction describes a psychological and behavioral eating pattern that is similar to abusing drugs. The Czech Republic’s prevalence of obesity belongs to the highest in Europe. Methods: We used the nationally representative non-clinical sample of 1841 respondents (N = 1841; 48,8% of men and 51.2% of women). Participants filled the sociodemographic questionnaire, Czech version of mYFAS 2.0 and the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) to test the hypothesis. Results: Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed that the single-factor model of Czech version of mYFAS 2.0 had adequate fit indices (χ2 (55) = 9670.8, p < 0.001; CFI, TLI > 0.95; SRMR < 0.07; and RMSEA < 0.08). The sample reliability in our research corresponded to Cronbach’s α = 0.89 (95% CI 0.88–0.90). The youngest population (aged 15–19) had a significantly higher score of mYFAS 2.0, than the older age groups. People living alone scored significantly higher than the married respondents. The middle-income groups scored significantly lower in mYFAS 2.0 than the lowest income group. Occasional (social) smokers showed a higher mYFAS 2.0 score in comparison with non-smokers. A difference regarding attachment styles has also been revealed, respondents characterized by insecure attachment styles showed a higher YFAS score. Conclusion: The findings reinforce future work on the Czech version of mYFAS 2.0, including validation and using mYFAS 2.0 to explore food addiction and its related variables and attachment styles in the Czech environment.”
Brain-gut-microbiome interactions in obesity and Food Addiction
Gupta, A., Osadchiy, V., & Mayer, E. A. (2020). Brain-gut-microbiome interactions in obesity and Food Addiction. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol, 17(11), 655-672. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575020-0341-5 “In this Review, we propose a systems biology model of brain-gut-microbiome interactions, which incorporates published reports on Food Addiction, and provides novel insights into treatment targets aimed at each level of the BGM axis.” 10.1038@s41575-020-0341-5 .pdf