Mental Health News
Researchers at the University of Michigan explored how parents’ drinking habits influenced their children’s addiction to highly processed foods. The study is published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
The Study
The researchers surveyed 357 American adult participants who completed several questionnaires. These include the Yale Food Addiction Scale, the Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test, the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence, the E-Cigarette Dependence Scale, the Family Tree Questionnaire, etc. Several risk factors were adjusted, such as psychosocial environment, genetics, obesity, substance addiction, and so forth.
The Findings
The results revealed that the drinking habits of parents are strongly associated with food addiction in children. This includes addiction to highly processed foods (like pizza, chocolate, ice cream, etc.), loss of control over food intake, intense cravings, and the inability to cut down on such food consumption.
It was also found that children with food addictions are more vulnerable to the excessive intake of addictive substances (like alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, etc.) and obesity.
One of the lead researchers, Lindzey Hoover, elaborated: “People who have a family history of addiction may be at greater risk for developing a problematic relationship with highly processed foods, which is really challenging in a food environment where these foods are cheap, accessible and heavily marketed.”
To Know More You May Refer To
Hoover, L. V., Yu, H. P., Cummings, J. R., Ferguson, S. G., & Gearhardt, A. N. (2022). Co-occurrence of food addiction, obesity, problematic substance use, and parental history of problematic alcohol use. Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 10.1037/adb0000870. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000870