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More than one in eight middle-aged and elderly Americans are addicted to ultra-processed foods, a national survey suggests.
It found that 13 percent of adults 50 to 80 exhibit signs of food addiction, including physical withdrawals, eating more than planned, and an inability to cut back.
Forty-four percent of respondents said they had at least one of the symptoms outlined in the simple 11-question questionnaire, which you can take yourself below.
Experts speaking to DailyMail.com last year called for junk food to be reclassified as drugs.
Scroll down to take the test and find out if you are addicted to junk food
Experts speaking to DailyMail.com last year called for junk food to be reclassified as drugs
More than one in eight middle-aged and elderly Americans are addicted to ultra-processed foods, a national survey suggests. It found that 13 percent of adults 50 to 80 exhibit signs of food addiction, including physical withdrawals, eating more than planned, and an inability to cut back
Eating a lot of highly processed food can have several negative health effects that increase a person’s risk of serious health issues like obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes
The new results came from the latest National Poll on Healthy Aging conducted by the University of Michigan
The questionnaire asked respondents to report experiencing at least two of a list of 11 indicators of food addiction in addition to two more questions to measure the extent to which their lives have been impaired by their addiction.
Forty-four percent of respondents said they had at least one of the symptoms outlined in the questionnaire.
Women were more likely than men to be addicted to ultraprocessed foods such as candy, salty snacks, sugary drinks, and fast food. Addiction to ultraprocessed food was also found in 17 percent of adults age 50 to 64, and eight percent of adults aged 65 to 80 as well as 22 percent of women age 50 to 64 and 18 percent of women age 50 to 80.
Men and women who considered themselves to already be in poor physical shape were more than twice as likely to exhibit signs of addiction – 32 percent and 14 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, addiction to junk food was also seen in 45 percent of women who say their mental health is fair or poor, and 23 percent of men who say the same. That is three times as high as the percentages among those who say their mental health is excellent, very good, or good.
Addiction was also seen in more than half of women who reported feelings of isolation while 26 percent of men said the same.
UM psychologist Dr Ashley Gearhardt said: ‘The word addiction may seem strong when it comes to food, but research has shown that our brains respond as strongly to highly processed foods, especially those highest in sugar, simple starches, and fat, as they do to tobacco, alcohol and other addictive substances.’
Dr Gearhardt, with the help of scientists at Yale University, co-developed the questionnaire used in the study called the Yale Food Addiction Scale.
‘Just as with smoking or drinking, we need to identify and reach out to those who have entered unhealthy patterns of use and support them in developing a healthier relationship with food,’ she added.
Intense cravings was the most common symptom with almost one in four saying that at least once a week they had a an urge to eat a piece of junk food so strong that they could not think of anything else. And 19 percent said that they had tried and failed at least twice a week to cut down on those foods or eliminate them altogether.
A proclivity for highly processed foods greatly increases a person’s risk of developing obesity, which has become a major public health issue in America.
The number of Americans who are obese has been surging for decades, with four in 10 now medically too fat.
Poll director Dr Jeffrey Kullgren, an associate professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine, said: ‘Clinicians need a better understanding of how food addiction and problematic eating intertwines with their patients’ physical and mental health, including chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.’
‘We need to understand that cravings and behaviors around food are rooted in brain chemistry and heredity, and that some people may need additional help just as they would to quit smoking or drinking.’
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