Samuel J Dicken https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13668-026-00775-z? Purpose of the Review: “The Nova classification considers the purpose and degree of food processing to capture how recent changes in the food system may link with health. Its value for understanding diet-disease relationships is debated. However, reviews typically focus only on its value, or its limitations. Furthermore, by discussing the degree of processing only and not the purpose, or discussing processing in general, reviews of limitations do not address pitfalls of the Nova classification. This conflict and confusion stalls progress to improve public health. Therefore, this review aims to provide a balanced understanding, interpretation and utilisation of the Nova classification and purpose of food processing, with a critical evaluation of its potential value, of pitfalls largely overlooked to date with recommendations to avoid unintended consequences, and constructive reflections on a path forward.”
Associations between hedonic hunger, food addiction, and BMI in adolescents: A cross-sectional mediation analysis
Ceren Gezer, Merve Yurt, Fulya Taş Fidan https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0985056226000191 This article reviews the concept of Food Addiction and focuses on how highly processed foods may trigger addiction-like eating behaviors. It explains that researchers compare these eating patterns to substance-use disorders by examining features such as cravings, loss of control, continued eating despite harm, and repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut back. The article also highlights how studies often use tools like the Yale Food Addiction Scale to measure these symptoms in human populations. It further summarizes evidence from experimental and observational research showing that certain foods, especially those high in refined fats and sugars, may strongly activate brain reward systems linked to dopamine. The review also discusses how these responses overlap with patterns seen in other addictions, while noting ongoing debate about whether food addiction should be considered a distinct clinical disorder. It concludes that the current evidence is mixed but that there are sufficient consistent findings to continue studying food addiction as a potential diagnostic construct.
Food Addiction Debate: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment
By Hugo Francisco de Souza https://www.news-medical.net/health/Food-Addiction-Debate-Symptoms-Causes-and-Treatment.aspx This article explains that “Food Addiction” is a debated concept and is not currently an official diagnosis in major medical manuals like the DSM-5 or ICD-11. It describes how some researchers believe certain ultra-processed foods may trigger addiction-like behaviors, including cravings, loss of control, and continued eating despite harm. It also notes that tools like the Yale Food Addiction Scale are used in research to measure these behaviors, and studies estimate that a portion of adults and children show these patterns. The article outlines possible causes, including brain reward system activity (dopamine pathways), genetic factors, and environmental influences like access to ultra-processed foods and childhood trauma. It also discusses overlap with conditions such as binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa, which makes diagnosis unclear. Treatment approaches mentioned include behavioral therapies, addressing eating patterns, and broader lifestyle or support-based interventions, though no standard treatment exists specifically for “Food Addiction.”
Neural correlates of inhibitory control in youth with symptoms of Food Addiction
Hardee, J. E., Phaneuf, C., Cope, L., Zucker, R., Gearhardt, A., & Heitzeg, M. (2020). Neural correlates of inhibitory control in youth with symptoms of food addiction. Appetite, 148, 104578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104578 From the research article’s abstract: “Prior research has found that food addiction is associated with reward-related neural differences, but research has yet to examine whether there are also neural differences in inhibitory control. This may be particularly relevant during adolescence as it is a key developmental period where difficulties in inhibitory control are more prevalent. The Yale Food Addiction Scale is a self-report questionnaire that applies substance use disorder diagnostic criteria to certain foods that has also been adapted for children. Here we investigate the association between addictive-like eating and brain functioning during inhibitory control in youth. Seventy-six right-handed participants 8.2–17.8 years (44 male) were recruited. Participants performed a go/no-go task during functional magnetic resonance imaging and completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children, after which they were categorized into two groups according to their scores (No Symptom Group = 0; YFAS-C Group: score ≥ 1). Inhibitory control was probed with a contrast of correct no-go versus go trials. An independent-samples t-test comparing groups revealed a significant difference in three primary clusters, all exclusively in the left hemisphere (No Symptom Group > YFAS-C Group): middle temporal gyrus/occipital gyrus, precuneus/calcarine sulcus, and inferior frontal gyrus. Specifically, the YFAS-C Group showed deactivation in all three clusters. Adolescents who endorse food addiction appear to show hypo-activation in response to the inhibitory control portion of a go/no-go task, which suggests possible inhibitory control difficulties.”
Validating CRAVED: A Brief Screening Instrument for Ultra-Processed Food Addiction
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1871164/abstract This study evaluates a short screening tool called CRAVED, which is designed to identify addictive-like eating behaviors related to ultra-processed foods. It compares CRAVED with two established measures: the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS 2.0) and the Binge Eating Scale (BES), in a sample of 117 adults taking part in a community-based program. The results show that higher CRAVED scores are linked with higher scores on both YFAS and binge eating measures. The tool was able to reasonably identify people who met YFAS criteria for food addiction, with acceptable accuracy and good sensitivity at a cutoff of three or more items. The study concludes that CRAVED may be a useful quick screening tool for identifying addictive-like eating behaviors, but it is not a replacement for full diagnostic assessment and needs further testing in larger groups.
Associations among executive function, social functioning, emotional states, and eating behavior patterns in young adults
Ga-Eun Jung, Ga-Ram Kwon, Young-A Lee, Associations among executive function, social functioning, emotional states, and eating behavior patterns in young adults, Journal of Psychiatric Research, Volume 199, 2026, Pages 13-27, ISSN 0022-3956, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2026.04.011. The researchers explored how thinking skills, emotions, and social experiences relate to eating behaviors in otherwise healthy young adults. The study found that patterns linked to food addiction were most strongly associated with reward sensitivity and hypervigilance, meaning individuals were more reactive to food cues and more alert to their environment. Many eating behaviors also showed strong connections to executive function, especially cognitive flexibility, while emotional distress and social stress were linked to multiple eating-related patterns. The authors note that these findings are associative and exploratory, but they suggest that food addiction may be influenced not just by food itself, but by how the brain processes reward, stress, and decision-making. Overall, the study supports the idea that addictive-like eating patterns are connected to a broader system involving emotion, cognition, and social experience, even in people without diagnosed eating disorders.
Perceived adolescent insecure attachment with mothers and fathers: links with food addiction, eating disorders, and weight status
Pipová, H., Dolejš, M., Suchá, J., & Vazsonyi, A. T. (2026). Perceived adolescent insecure attachment with mothers and fathers: links with food addiction, eating disorders, and weight status. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2026.2660772 From the Abstract: “The aim of this study was to test relationships between adolescent insecure attachment (anxious and avoidant) with mothers and fathers and three outcomes: food addiction, eating disorders, and weight status, in a large multi-regional sample of Czech adolescents. Anonymous, self-reported data were collected from 3,677 adolescents (1,688 boys, 45.9%, and 1,989 girls, 54.1%). Both anxious and avoidant attachment with mothers were positively associated with food addiction (p < .001) and eating-disorder risk (p < .001). Importantly, avoidant attachment with fathers uniquely and additively explained variance in both food addiction (p < .001) and eating-disorder risk (p = .003), after controlling for maternal attachment. Weight status was unrelated to attachment and was predicted by sex and parental education only. Study findings highlight the salience of insecure attachment with both mothers and fathers for food addiction and eating disorders among adolescents and identify the parental relationship as a key potential preventative strategy.”
A unified theory of restrictive and addictive eating: a life course model integrating generational transmission, neurodevelopmental risk, and ultra-processed food use disorder—a theoretical review
Wiss, D.A., Logan, A.C. A unified theory of restrictive and addictive eating: a life course model integrating generational transmission, neurodevelopmental risk, and ultra-processed food use disorder—a theoretical review. J Eat Disord (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-026-01618-6 The authors propose a new way of understanding food addiction by placing it within a broader life-course model. Instead of viewing restrictive eating and addictive eating as separate issues, they argue that both can develop from shared pathways shaped by early life stress, biology, and environment. The paper highlights how factors like trauma, chronic stress, and exposure to ultra-processed foods can interact with brain systems involved in reward and regulation, increasing the risk for addiction-like eating patterns. The authors suggest that “addiction-like eating represents key pathways from childhood adversity to problematic eating in adulthood,” emphasizing that food addiction is not random, but part of a deeper, patterned response shaped over time. Overall, the study pushes for a more integrated view, where food addiction is understood as part of a larger system involving both biology and lived experience.
Toward a triadic approach in eating disorders: investigating the contribution of the reflexive, affective and interoceptive systems in a clinical data cohort
Valentin, F., Corentin, G., Aurélien, C. et al. Toward a triadic approach in eating disorders: investigating the contribution of the reflexive, affective, and interoceptive systems in a clinical data cohort. J Eat Disord (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-026-01602-0 Researchers explored how three systems—thinking patterns (reflexive), emotions (affective), and body awareness (interoceptive)—relate to food addiction across different eating disorders. In a clinical sample of patients, they found that food addiction was most strongly linked to interoceptive difficulties, meaning trouble recognizing internal signals like hunger and fullness, along with emotional distress connected to eating. The cognitive system, which includes flexible thinking, played a smaller role when all factors were considered together. As the authors conclude, “interoceptive and affective disturbances [are] relevant…in FA across eating disorder diagnoses,” while the reflexive system contributes less strongly. The findings suggest that food addiction is driven less by simple decision-making and more by how the body and emotions interact, reinforcing the idea that addictive eating patterns are deeply tied to internal experience rather than just behavior alone.
The MotivATE randomized controlled trial: treating food addiction with adapted motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy versus a waitlist control condition
Vincent A. Santiago & Stephanie E. Cassin https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40337-025-01522-5 From the Abstract: “Food addiction or the concept of being “addicted” to highly processed foods has received ongoing research interest. Although treatment approaches have been proposed, very little research has tested interventions for this specific issue. This study tested a talk therapy (“MotivATE”) that combined two treatments called motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy for food addiction. This involved using a person-centred counseling style to resolve ambivalence about making changes, and teaching coping skills to help people improve their eating behaviours. Participants who received the treatment had significant improvements in food addiction and binge eating symptoms compared to a waitlist group, immediately after treatment and 1- and 3-months after treatment.”