Food addiction: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of overeating

Adams, Rachel C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8053-0671, Sedgmond, Jemma, Maizey, Leah, Chambers, Christopher D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6058-4114 and Lawrence, Natalia S. 2019. Food addiction: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of overeating. Nutrients 11 (9) , 2086. 10.3390/nu11092086

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (880kB) | Preview

Abstract

With the obesity epidemic being largely attributed to overeating, much research has been aimed at understanding the psychological causes of overeating and using this knowledge to develop targeted interventions. Here, we review this literature under a model of food addiction and present evidence according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) criteria for substance use disorders. We review several innovative treatments related to a food addiction model ranging from cognitive intervention tasks to neuromodulation techniques. We conclude that there is evidence to suggest that, for some individuals, food can induce addictive-type behaviours similar to those seen with other addictive substances. However, with several DSM-5 criteria having limited application to overeating, the term ‘food addiction’ is likely to apply only in a minority of cases. Nevertheless, research investigating the underlying psychological causes of overeating within the context of food addiction has led to some novel and potentially effective interventions. Understanding the similarities and differences between the addictive characteristics of food and illicit substances should prove fruitful in further developing these interventions

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) Psychology
Publisher:	MDPI
ISSN:	2072-6643
Funders:	Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	22 August 2019
Date of Acceptance:	21 August 2019
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 11:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/125050

Citation Data

Cited 33 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item