1 in 20 Canadians have “food addictions”– study

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Seven per cent of Canadian women and 3 per cent of men engage in “compulsive overeating in harmful and unhealthy ways,” according to a new study from Memorial University in the eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

While some people dispute that food addiction exists, other studies indicate that that some foods activate the brain’s reward system in way that cocaine or alcohol does and that certain people are more vulnerable to the effect.

Questionnaire gauged addiction

“I eat to the point where I feel physically ill” was one of the statements on a questionnaire administered to 652 adults in Newfoundland for this study. “I need to eat more and more to get the feeling I want” was another of several statements adapted from the Yale Food Addiction Scale. Respondents were considered to have a food addiction if they had three or more symptoms and if food caused significant distress or interfered with their normal routines.

“Food addicts” are overweight or obese: study

“The more interesting finding,” said the study’s co-author, PhD student Farrell Cahill, “is the fact that 80 to 90 per cent of these food addicted people… are overweight or obese. So that would show that food addiction is definitely an issue and it’s found in the general population, and that these five per cent have a weight issue.

“It shows in such a very eloquent way that food addiction itself is potentially a driving force for obesity.” Cahill points out that there are many factors that influence eating behaviours and that more research needs to be done.

“Companies…engineer food for us to want them more and more”

Certain people appear to have more susceptibility to the marketing of foods high in fat and sugar, says Cahill. “Really we can’t ignore the fact that companies engineer foods for our palate. They engineer food for us to want them more and more. That’s their driving initiative and we’re kind of working against that.”