Evaluation of the Relationship between Food Addiction, Nutritional Status and Depression in Overweight and Obese Women

Abstract

Aim: This study is aimed to determine the relationship between food addiction, nutrition and depression in overweight/obese women. Subjects and Methods: A total of 100 women between the ages of 19 to 65 years, participated in the study. Participants did not have diabetes mellitus, or cardiovascular, psychiatric, metabolic diseases; were not pregnant nor in lactation period, and had BMI≥ 25 kg/ m². A questionnaire was used to examine the general characteristics of individuals and anthropometrical measurements were recorded. Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) was used to determine food addiction status and Beck Depression Inventory was used to determine depression. Food frequency questionnaire was used to collect information about food consumption in the previous month. Results: It is found that 38% of the participants were food addicted and 42% of the participants were in depression. While 52.6% of the food addicted participants were also in depression, only 35.5% of the participants without food addiction were in depression. Although there were no significant differences in the prevelance of depression between the food addicted and non-addicted participants (p>0.05), the depression score were higher in the food addicted group. Conclusion: Food addiction is one of the most debated topics in recent years. It is considered that further studies on this topic may help elucidating the possible effects of food addiction on obesity and therefore contribute to the prevention and treatment of obesity.