A narrative review of the construct of hedonic hunger and its measurement by the Power of Food Scale

Since the Power of Food Scale (PFS) was developed as a quantitative measure of hedonic hunger (the focus and desire to consume foods for pleasure purposes without physical hunger), this 2018 narrative review analyzes the ability of PFS to assess the term it was designed for. An extra aim was to define hedonic hunger more clearly. Espel-Huynh et al. (2018) evaluate and summarize the relationship the measure has with body mass, motivation to consume palatable foods, actual intake of such foods, and with loss of control over eating behavior. The idea was to gain a better understanding of what exactly the PFS measures and how it is related with hedonic hunger. The results demonstrated a close relationship with motivation to consume palatable foods and, in extreme cases, episodes of losing dietary behavioral control. However, PFS could not consistently predict the quantity of food consumption or body mass. [NPID: craving, hedonic hunger, control, processed food]

Year: 2018

Reference: Espel-Huynh, H. M., Muratore, A. F., & Lowe, M. R. (2018). A narrative review of the construct of hedonic hunger and its measurement by the Power of Food Scale. Obesity science & practice, 4(3), 238–249. https://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.161