SynthesisNutrients2014
The prevalence of food addiction as assessed by the Yale Food Addiction Scale: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Nutrients, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 234 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
234 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 528 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analysis assessing reliability of the Yale Food Addiction Scale: Implications for compulsive eating and obesity.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- The prognostic role of food addiction for weight loss treatment outcomes in individuals with overweight and obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- Bariatric-Metabolic Surgery is the Most Effective Intervention in Reducing Food Addiction Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Obesity surgery · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Disordered Eating among People with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Prevalence of food addiction in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021Pooled it
- Systematic Review of Food Addiction as Measured with the Yale Food Addiction Scale: Implications for the Food Addiction Construct.Current neuropharmacology · 2019Pooled it
- What Is the Evidence for "Food Addiction?" A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2018Pooled it
- Food Addiction in Individuals With Overweight and Obesity Undergoing a 12-Week Long Tailored mHealth Weight Loss Intervention.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2025Trial
- Effects of a psychosocial intervention at one-year follow-up in a PREDIMED-plus sample with obesity and metabolic syndrome.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Alterations in reward network functional connectivity are associated with increased food addiction in obese individuals.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Dysregulated eating behaviour and microbiota-based interventions targeting eating disorders and food addiction.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Rejecting Health as a Justification for Junk Food Taxes.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2026Article
- Using Best-Worst Scaling to explore the perceived addictiveness of foods by processing level: a cross-sectional study among higher education students in Belgium.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Prevalence of food addiction and its association with ghrelin and metabolic parameters in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study.BMC endocrine disorders · 2026Article
- Does food insecurity elucidate the relationship between food addiction and binge eating among bariatric surgery candidates?Surgery for obesity and related diseases : official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery · 2026Article
- Addressing gender disparities in the efficacy of psychological interventions for behavioral addictions: protocol for a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- The Impact of Fear of Missing out (FoMO) on Addictive Eating: A Moderated Mediation Model.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Unhealthy food bias in food addiction: behavioral evidence from a probabilistic image choice task.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- The neural pathways of change: an fMRI study of the effects of behavioral change suggestions on value-based dietary decision-making.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Observational
174 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Obesity is a global issue and it has been suggested that an addiction to certain foods could be a factor contributing to overeating and subsequent obesity. Only one tool, the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) has been developed to specifically assess food addiction. This review aimed to determine the prevalence of food addiction diagnosis and symptom scores, as assessed by the YFAS. Published studies to July 2014 were included if they reported the YFAS diagnosis or symptom score and were published in the English language. Twenty-five studies were identified including a total of 196,211 predominantly female, overweight/obese participants (60%). Using meta-analysis, the weighted mean prevalence of YFAS food addiction diagnosis was 19.9%. Food addiction (FA) diagnosis was found to be higher in adults aged >35 years, females, and overweight/obese participants. Additionally, YFAS diagnosis and symptom score was higher in clinical samples compared to non-clinical counterparts. YFAS outcomes were related to a range of other eating behavior measures and anthropometrics. Further research is required to explore YFAS outcomes across a broader spectrum of ages, other types of eating disorders and in conjunction with weight loss interventions to confirm the efficacy of the tool to assess for the presence of FA.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.