What's a food addiction…Children and adolescents who eat certain foods compulsively, obesity, and emotional problems ↑
Mar 05, 2025
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Food addiction is an act of eating compulsively without controlling certain foods, associated with the brain's compensation system, and has characteristics similar to substance addiction.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a research team led by Professor Park Kyung-hee of the Department of Family Medicine at Hallym University recently published the findings in the journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice in the field of nutrition and health with the support of the National Institute of Health.
The research team analyzed the association between food addiction and emotional and behavioral problems in 224 overweight children and adolescents (average age of 11.4) with a BMI percentile of 85th or higher, that is, within the top 15% of BMI. As a result of the study, 44 people (19.6%) were at high risk of food addiction. The average number of food poisoning symptoms in the high-risk group was 4.05, and the normal group was 1.31.
Children in the high-risk group had a higher degree of obesity than the normal group, had low self-esteem and poor family functions such as emotional exchange and support between families. The more food addiction symptoms, the more emotional and behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression, and even after correcting obesity and parenting attitudes, the total score of problem behavior, aggression, and academic performance scores tended to decrease.
It is pointed out that obesity among children and adolescents, which is increasing recently, can continue into adulthood and negatively affect mental health as well as physical problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and fatty liver.
Park Hyun-young, director of the National Institute of Health, said "We should consider that food addiction is not just a diet, but an important factor in obesity and mental health""In children and adolescents with obesity and children with emotional behavioral problems, the tendency of food addiction may increase, so careful understanding, evaluation, and intervention are needed."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
