Eat Weight Disord. 2017 Mar 30. doi: 10.1007/s40519-016-0355-8.
Brewerton TD1,2.
Abstract
PURPOSE:
Food addiction (FA) is a newly defined yet still controversial condition that has important etiological, developmental, treatment, prevention, and social policy implications. In this review, the case is made that FA (or high scores on the Yale Food Addiction Scale) may be used as a proxy measure for a matrix of interrelated clinical features, including greater eating disorder severity, greater obesity severity, more severe trauma histories, greater symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), greater psychiatric comorbidity, as well as greater medical morbidity and mortality.
METHODS:
A Medline search was undertaken using the following terms: food addiction cross-referenced with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and binge eating), obesity, trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and comorbidity.
RESULTS:
The thesis is that the identification and acknowledgment of the concept of FA, when integrated into an overall, trauma-focused and transdiagnostic treatment approach, are supported and can be useful in understanding clinically the “big picture.”
CONCLUSIONS:
Food addiction (FA) may be used as a proxy for (1) bulimic eating disorder severity, (2) complex trauma histories, (3) severity of PTSD and PTSD symptoms, (4) intensity of psychiatric comorbidity, (5) severity of obesity, as well as (6) their combination. Implications for developing treatment strategies are discussed. The case for a comprehensive management that requires careful attention to medical and psychiatric assessment and integrated care that incorporates trauma-focused treatment is made.
KEYWORDS: Binge eating disorder; Bulimia nervosa; Comorbidity; Food addiction; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Severity
PMID: 28361213
DOI: 10.1007/s40519-016-0355-8
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