‚Food addiction‘ – addictive-like eating behavior

Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: January 31, 2017 | Revision accepted: April 13, 2017

The current state of research with the Yale Food Addiction Scale

The construct of ,food addiction’ is increasingly a subject of focus both in public discussion and in scientifi c research. The concept of ,food addiction’ postulates a link between food intake and addiction. The aim of this article is to give nutrition experts a brief overview of the current scientifi c discussion, to provide an initial introduction to the complex topic of ,food addiction’, and to explain the possible clinical applications of the “Yale Food Addiction Scale” questionnaire (YFAS 2.0).

Introduction

Terms like binge eating disorder, ,food addiction’ (e.g. “chocoholic” [1]) and addictive-like eating behavior occur more frequently in German media. These terms link the absolutely crucial food intake with an addiction, as is typical in the case of the consumption of drugs. However, the term “addiction” is often used and understood differently in everyday language than it is in scientific literature [2, 3]. In everyday English, “ism” or “holic” suffixes are used synonymously with “addiction” in the sense of an “extreme desire” or an “abnormal reaction” [2] in combination with an active “seeking” for the thing desired [2]. Other examples of everyday terms using such suffixes include shopaholic, workaholic, etc. The word “addicted” is also used in this sense, not necessarily meaning a real medical condition, e.g. “I’m addicted to chocolate (chocoholic [1])”.

Abstract

There are three methodical research approaches that are used to investigate the construct of a ,food addiction’: animal studies, neurocognitive human studies using imaging methods, and questionnaire-based human studies using the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS). The focus of this article will be the current state of research using the YFAS 2.0. Based on the diagnostic criteria for substance addiction set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the YFAS assesses and evaluates the psychological aspects of human eating behavior in a standardized manner to determine whether an individual may have an addiction. When ,food addiction’ is defined in this way, its prevalence in sample populations is 5–10%. Higher prevalence is observed in patients who are obese, have a binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa, or who are underweight. Currently, research is being conducted into links between ,food addiction’, pathological eating behavior, personality traits (e.g. cognitive control of eating behavior, impulsiveness), and depression. However, the construct of ,food addiction’ that is under consideration here is also the subject of criticism because there are still many research gaps that need to be filled in: for example with regard to distinctions and terminology, and with regard to neural and behavioral correlates, and their effects on stigmatization, prevention and therapy.

Keywords: food addiction, addictive-like eating behavior, YFAS, obesity, eating disorder

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