

These similarities include the experience of cravings, reduced control over intake, increased impulsivity and altered reward-sensitivity. įood addiction has not yet been recognised in the DSM however, the similarities between some feeding and eating disorders and substance-use disorders (SUDs) have been acknowledged.

These findings highlight how a model of food addiction may help us to understand elements of overweight/obesity beyond a simple lack of willpower and can also be used to inform effective interventions and policy. Moreover, treatments developed for addictive disorders have also shown some efficacy for the treatment of obesity and overeating. There is now a large body of research documenting similar observations for overeating and obesity. Acceptance of this disorder was based on evidence that gambling can produce behavioural symptoms that parallel those of substance addiction and can activate the same neural reward circuits as drugs of abuse.
#FOOD ADDICTS ANONYMOUS SOUTH AFRICA MANUAL#
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual acknowledged this shift in perspective, with the addition of gambling disorder as the first behavioural addiction. This surge of interest comes with the perspective that addiction can be conceptualised as a loss of control over intake for a particular substance or behaviour without the need to focus purely on psychoactive substances. There are now numerous reviews discussing the diagnostic, neurobiological and practical aspects of food addiction, with arguments both for and against its utility and validity. The concept of ‘food addiction’ has been evident in the media and general public for some time and is gaining increasing interest in the scientific literature. The critical question is why some individuals are able to resist overeating while others cannot what is the evidence for ‘food addiction’ and how can this be used to inform interventions for overeating. While many individuals manage to resist these temptations and maintain a healthy weight, obese individuals have been shown to have a preference for such energy-dense foods compared to healthy-weight individuals.

One of the common explanations for the increase in obesity over recent decades is the environment and, in particular, the availability of highly varied, palatable and fattening foods-which have been considered to be addictive. Overweight and obesity present a substantial economic burden in the UK, the total direct and indirect costs are expected to reach £37.2 billion by 2025. In 2016, 39% of adults were estimated to be overweight and 13% to be obese. In 2003, obesity was declared a global epidemic by the World Health Organisation, and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in both developed and developing countries continues to increase. Understanding the similarities and differences between the addictive characteristics of food and illicit substances should prove fruitful in further developing these interventions. Nevertheless, research investigating the underlying psychological causes of overeating within the context of food addiction has led to some novel and potentially effective interventions. 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. 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. We review several innovative treatments related to a food addiction model ranging from cognitive intervention tasks to neuromodulation techniques. 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. 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.
