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Food addiction as a proxy for eating disorder and obesity severity, trauma history, PTSD symptoms, and comorbidity

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Food addiction (FA) is a newly defined yet still controversial condition that has important etiological, developmental, treatment, prevention, and social policy implications. In this review, the case is made that FA (or high scores on the Yale Food Addiction Scale) may be used as a proxy measure for a matrix of interrelated clinical features, including greater eating disorder severity, greater obesity severity, more severe trauma histories, greater symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), greater psychiatric comorbidity, as well as greater medical morbidity and mortality.

Methods

A Medline search was undertaken using the following terms: food addiction cross-referenced with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and binge eating), obesity, trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and comorbidity.

Results

The thesis is that the identification and acknowledgment of the concept of FA, when integrated into an overall, trauma-focused and transdiagnostic treatment approach, are supported and can be useful in understanding clinically the “big picture.”

Conclusions

Food addiction (FA) may be used as a proxy for (1) bulimic eating disorder severity, (2) complex trauma histories, (3) severity of PTSD and PTSD symptoms, (4) intensity of psychiatric comorbidity, (5) severity of obesity, as well as (6) their combination. Implications for developing treatment strategies are discussed. The case for a comprehensive management that requires careful attention to medical and psychiatric assessment and integrated care that incorporates trauma-focused treatment is made.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA

    Timothy D. Brewerton

  2. 216 Scott Street, Mount Pleasant, SC, 29464, USA

    Timothy D. Brewerton

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Correspondence to Timothy D. Brewerton.

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This article is part of the topical collection on Food addiction.

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Brewerton, T.D. Food addiction as a proxy for eating disorder and obesity severity, trauma history, PTSD symptoms, and comorbidity. Eat Weight Disord 22, 241–247 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0355-8

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