Study Ties Food Addiction to Impulsive Personalities

A new study uncovers a strong association between impulsive personalities and unhealthy food addictions.

Researchers at the University of Georgia found that people with impulsive behavior are more prone to food addiction. The researchers also said it is similar to the behavior  that leads people to drug and alcohol addiction.

It is a compulsive behavior, which leads to unhealthy food choices and sometimes results in obesity.

"The notion of food addiction is a very new one, and one that has generated a lot of interest," said James MacKillop, associate professor of psychology in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "My lab generally studies alcohol, nicotine and other forms of drug addiction, but we think it's possible to think about impulsivity, food addiction and obesity using some of the same techniques."

This finding will help physicians deal better with obesity and draw treatment plans for people addicted to food. Reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that more than one third of the U.S. adults are obese and suffer from a greater risk of heart diseases, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.

A 2012 report by the London School of Hygiene showed that the U.S. tops the obesity population list. The U.S. is single handedly responsible for a third of the global obesity.

For this study the researcher Mackillop along with the doctoral students Cara Murphy and Monika Stojek worked with two different scales namely the 'Yale Food Addiction Scale' and the 'UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviour Scale'. These scales were used to determine the level of food addiction in a person and also the level of impulsivity.

The study was conducted on 233 participants. The result of each participant was compared with the body mass index of the person, which helped to determine obesity.

The results showed that a person's impulsive behavior was not necessarily linked with obesity, but the impulsive behavior may lead to food addiction.

 "Modern neuroscience has helped us understand how substances like drugs and alcohol co-opt areas of the brain that evolved to release dopamine and create a sense of happiness or satisfaction," said Mackillop, who is also the study's principal investigator. "And now we realize that certain types of food also hijack these brain circuits and lay the foundation for compulsive eating habits that are similar to drug addiction."

The study was documented in the journal Appetite.