Food Addiction Correlates with Psychosocial Functioning More Than Metabolic Parameters in Patients with Obesity

Aim: To investigate the association of food addiction (FA) with the psychosocial functioning and metabolic parameters in obese patients seeking weight-loss treatment. Methods: Two hundred twenty-four obese patients (male/female: 28/196) with a mean age of 44.5 ± 13.4 years and body mass index (BMI) of 41.6 ± 7.2 were included in the study. After receiving sociodemographic data and medical history, detailed physical examination, including anthropometric measurements, was performed by an experienced physician. Blood samples were taken after 8-12 hr of fasting. The presence of FA was evaluated by using Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS). Psychological evaluation was performed by using a self-reported Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and health-related quality of life using the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). Results: Seventy-two of 224 (32.1%) patients met the criteria for FA, according to YFAS. The mean age of patients with FA was younger compared with patients without FA ( P  < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the patients with and without FA in terms of BMI, fat percentage, and waist circumference ( P  = 0.440, P  = 0.644, and P  = 0.144, respectively). The depression frequency was significantly higher (61.1%, P  < 0.001), while the SF-36 score of mental health was lower ( P  = 0.027) in patients with FA than in the patients without FA. Age- and sex-adjusted mean fasting plasma glucose level was lower in patients with FA ( P  = 0.021), but serum insulin levels, HOMA-IR (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance), HbA1c (hemoglobin A1c), lipid parameters, and vascular adiposity index were comparable. Conclusions: We found that FA frequency was very high in obese patients seeking treatment for weight loss, and it correlates with psychosocial functioning more than metabolic parameters.