Risk patterns in food addiction: a Mexican population approach

Background: Food addiction (FA) is a construct that has gained interest in recent years but its relevance in Mexican population is still unexplored. Aims: The present study has the aims of explore FA in a community of Mexican population, as well as identifying the risk patterns associated with it, in relation to the different etiological factors that have been described such as impulsivity, emotional regulation and eating styles. Furthermore, to identify a predictive model of FA severity. Methods: The sample consisted of 160 female and male university students of Pachuca city in México, who volunteered to participate in the study. Assessment included multidimensional measures for FA, eating disorder severity, eating disorder styles, emotional regulation and impulsivity. Results: A screening of FA-probable was registered for 13.8% of the sample, while 8.1% met criteria for FA-present. The FA-present group differed from FA-absent in the impulsivity levels and in emotional eating style. Patients with FA-present differed from FA-probable in the impulsivity levels. Differences between FA-probable versus FA-absent were found in the restrained eating style. Path analysis evidenced that FA severity was directly associated with older age, worse eating style profile and higher impulsivity levels, and indirectly related with the ED symptom levels. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that it is possible to establish a specific predictive model of the development of FA and its severity in Mexican population to implement adequate prevention and treatment strategies. Evidence level: Level III: evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies