EAT YOUR HEART OUT –
Feb. 14, 2023 – To meet the criteria for addiction, older adults who were polled had to report experiencing at least 2 of 11 symptoms of addiction in their intake of highly processed food, and also report significant eating-related distress or life problems multiple times per week.
Based on these criteria, highly processed food addiction was observed in 13% of poll respondents overall, with rates significantly higher among women, especially those in their 50s and early 60s. “Clinicians need a better understanding of how food addiction and problematic eating intertwines with their patients’ physical and mental health, including chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer,” says poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, MD, MPH, an associate professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine and physician and researcher at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, said in the release.
