Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Now-a-days obesity has become a serious and costly problem and it has reached epidemic proportions globally. One interesting
hypothesis to explain the development of this condition involves the relatively young and controversial Food Addiction
(FA) model, which looks at similarities between the behavioral indicators of addiction and Binge Eating Disorder (BED), such as
diminished control over consumption and continued excessive consumption despite negative consequences. Exploring the foodaddiction
construct and the co-occurrence with BED, may improve the clinical understanding of the pathophysiology of obesity and
eating disorders and may suggest future treatment pathways to reduce their incidence and complications. The purpose of our study
was to explore the FA construct in ninety-four obese and overweight patients referring to our patient’s services in Italy. In particular,
this research aimed; 1) to assess the correlation between the scoring of the YFAS (Yale Food Addiction Scale) and the scoring of Beck
Depression Inventory (BDI), Binge Eating Scale (BES) and Three Factor Questionnaire (TFEQ) and 2) to explore the association
between YFAS’s scoring and measures of eating disorder and associated psychopathology. Based on our results, Binge Eating Disorder
(BED) and FA are related but do not totally overlap. Since the subset of BED patients classified as having food addiction with the YFAS
appears to represent a more disturbed variant for identifying the person with food addiction-like behaviors could have important
clinical implication for the optimization of the treatment.

Biography

Rossella Oliva holds a Master’s degree in Neuroscience and Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. She has undertaken her internships in different centers and outpatient
services for the treatment of eating disorders in Italy. She has attended a master practitioner in The National Centre for Eating Disorders in London and has conducted
different research projects at the University of Padua. She’s now working in an outpatient service for the treatment of obesity and eating disorders in Venice and also
attending a four-year specialization school in cognitive-neuropsychological psychotherapy.