Journal of Nutraceuticals and Food Science

Food addiction and implication of psychosocial health

Changing lifestyle and eating patterns had impact on human health as well as lead to dilemma of body shape.Although its a good step towards improving health but many adults specially girls take it so seriously that it takes shape of a psychological problem and this is from where eating disorders take birth.Psychological stress is common among adults looking for weight loss.Individuals attempt to weight loss face lot of challenges including inherited vulnerabilities(eg,high birth weight),environmental influences such as abundance of calorie dense foods ,sedentary lifestyle ,body shaming and individual’s own perception of ideal body weight.All of these factors together has psychological implications.A vicious cycle of withdrwal of food,increased intake of food begins and results in depression.This makes adoption of healthy eating patterns difficult to prevail.Addiction like eating patterns are common among obese individuals seekung treatment.Food addiction is not related to age ,it is common among individuals having body shape concerns.Food addiction further leads to obesity and thus worsens the psycholgical picture. Food addiction and emotional eating both influence eating and weigh and leads to anxiety and depression.A dietician and psychologist can help such patients.Cognitive behavioural therapy can be quite helpful including amending personal picture about body image,self acceptance ,overevaluation of shape and weight; that is, judging self-worth largely which  is often expressed as strong desire to be thin combined with an intense fear of weight gain and fatness.This don’t involve strict dietary restrictions ,which results in poor self-control and  intensifying patients’ concerns about their ability to control their eating, shape, and weight.

Sehrish Nasreen