Eating to live or living to eat? Exploring the causal attributions of self-perceived food addiction
Abstract
Previous studies indicate that many people perceive themselves to be addicted to food. However, little is known about how the concept of 'food addiction' is defined amongst members of the lay public. The current study examined beliefs about the cognitive and behavioural manifestations of food addiction. Participants (N = 210) completed an internet-delivered questionnaire in which they indicated whether or not they perceived themselves to be a food addict and provided a brief explanation for their response. Over a quarter of participants (28%) perceived themselves to be food addicts and self-diagnosis was predicted by increased BMI and younger age, but not by gender. Thematic analysis was conducted to explore the causal attributions provided by self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts. Six characteristics were identified: 1) Reward-driven eating (i.e. eating for psychological rather than physiological reasons), 2) A functional or psychological preoccupation with food, 3) A perceived lack of self-control around food, 4) Frequent food cravings, 5) Increased weight or an unhealthy diet, and 6) A problem with a specific type of food. The emergent themes, and their frequency, did not differ between self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts. However, self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts reported divergent cognitions, behaviours and attitudes within each common theme. This study is the first to provide qualitative insight into beliefs about food addiction in both self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts. The findings appear to reflect a view of food addiction that is identifiable through several core behaviours.
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Women with obesity report higher food addiction behaviours, cravings, comorbidity and reward sensitivity than men with obesity.
“For example, women with obesity report higher food addiction behaviours, cravings, comorbidity and reward sensitivity than men with obesity 33, 34, 35.”
From History of early life adversity is associated with increased food addiction and sex-specific alterations in reward network connectivity in obesity (2019) · cites this paper as [34]
Compared with men with high BMI, women with high BMI report higher food addiction behaviours, cravings, comorbidity, reward sensitivity and repeated unsuccessful attempts to maintain weight loss.
“Compared with men with high BMI, women with high BMI report higher food addiction behaviours, cravings, comorbidity, reward sensitivity and repeated unsuccessful attempts to maintain weight loss 33, 34, 35.”
From History of early life adversity is associated with increased food addiction and sex-specific alterations in reward network connectivity in obesity (2019) · cites this paper as [34]
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- Authors
- Ruddock, H. K., Dickson, J. M., Field, M., & Hardman, C. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Ruddock, Helen K.
- Venue
- Appetite
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-12
- Volume
- 95
- Pages
- 262-268
- ISSN
- 0195-6663 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1023151662
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 6.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Appetite (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Keywords
- food addiction, causal attribution, self-diagnosis, food cravings, self-control, weight gain, unhealthy diet
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Attitude, Body Weight, Cognition, Diet, Eating, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Perception, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reward, Self Concept, Social Perception, Body Mass Index, Behavior, Addictive, Young Adult, Craving
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