Food addiction in patients on weight loss treatment
Journal
Frontiers in Nutrition
ISSN
2296-861X
Date Issued
2024
Author(s)
Ana Cristina Palacio
Catalina Cuello
Ximena Díaz-Torrente
Type
journal-article
Abstract
<jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>Food addiction (FA) is defined as hedonic eating behavior involving the consumption of highly palatable foods (i.e., ultra processed foods in quantities beyond homeostatic energy requirements). FA is present in a subset of patients with overweight or obesity and could contribute to the response to weight loss treatments.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Aim</jats:title><jats:p>Determine FA in individuals that fulfil the criteria of FA as measured by the YFAS 2.0, and its association with anthropometric and body composition variables in a clinical sample of patients undergoing weight loss treatment. Also, to determine the most prevalent FA criteria.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>An observational, analytical, and cross-sectional study was conducted. Sampling was non-probabilistic, convenience based. A total of 158 participants were recruited from two clinical centers (private and public) focused on managing non-communicable chronic diseases. The Chilean version of YFAS 2.0 was administrated through the online REDCap platform. Anthropometric measurements were measured, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>The mean age was 47.8 (SD 14.9) and BMI 28.7 (SD 5.3) kg/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>. There were 12.7% patients who screened positive on the YFAS 2.0 Chilean version (3.2% for mild, 2.5% for moderate and 7.0% for severe), the mean symptom count was 2.2 (SD 2.6), with <jats:italic>withdrawal</jats:italic> being the most prevalent criterion (33.5%). FA patients had significantly higher body weight compared to non-FA subjects (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.045). We observed a slight and significant correlation between FA symptom count and body weight (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.020), waist circumference (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.005), and BMI (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.023).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>This is the first study in Chile that showed that FA was present in patients undergoing weight loss treatment and was associated with anthropometric measurements. In addition, it showed that <jats:italic>withdrawal</jats:italic> was the most prevalent criterion. Future studies should investigate whether the presence of FA and the <jats:italic>withdrawal</jats:italic> criterion could contribute to suboptimal clinical response to weight loss treatment.</jats:p></jats:sec>
Subjects
anthropometric measurements
;
food addiction
;
obesity
;
weight loss treatment
;
yfas 2.0