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Differences in dietary preferences, personality and mental health in Australian adults with and without food addiction
This 2017 study explored food addiction and its association with dietary intake, personality traits and mental health issues among a total of 1344 Australian adults. The participants, who were 75.7% female, on average 39.8 years old (range 18-91) and had an average BMI of 27.7 ± 9.5, were assessed using the revised Yale Food Addiction Survey (YFAS) 2.0 tool, and invited to complete an online survey on demographics, diet, depression, anxiety, stress, and personality dimensions. Food addiction was identified in 22% of the sample, with 0.7% of cases of “mild” severity, 2.6% “moderate”, and 18.9% “severe”. Odds ratios (ORs) highlighted severe food addiction was 265% more likely to be seen in females, 36% more likely in those who consumed higher levels of soft drinks, and could also be predicted by confectionery consumption and anxiety sensitivity (OR = 1.16). Vegetable intake was the only variable that led to a reduction in risk of having severe food addiction while people with “severe” (OR = 13.2) and extremely severe depressive symptoms (OR = 15.6) had the highest odds of having severe food addiction. Burrows et al. (2017) demonstrated that addictive food behaviours are associated with a complex pattern of poor dietary choices and with several mental health issues, particularly depression. [NPID: sugar, processed food, personality, depression, stress, food addiction]
Year: 2017
