SynthesisNutrients2018
What Is the Evidence for "Food Addiction?" A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Nutrients, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 125 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
125 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- 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
- 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
- Food addiction and psychiatric comorbidities: a review of current evidence.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2021Pooled it
- Changes in Ultra-Processed Food Intake During a Single-Arm Behavioral Weight Management Intervention: A Secondary Analysis.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Trial
- Neurofeedback for Binge-Eating Disorder: Neurophysiological Outcome Predictors and Rapid Response.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Trial
- Trial
- An open-label trial on the efficacy and tolerability of naltrexone/bupropion SR for treating altered eating behaviours and weight loss in binge eating disorder.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 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
- Brain-wide activity mapping reveals the somatosensory cortex as a sex-specific regulator of hedonic feeding.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 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
- The Role of Gut Microbiota in the Pathogenesis of Obesity and Food Addiction: The Importance of the Gut-Brain Axis and the Dopaminergic System.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- 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
- YFAS-derived 'sugar addiction symptom scores' are unrelated to BMI or sugar intake.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Psychological Aspects and Implications of Food Addiction and Glucose Control in Type 2 Diabetes: A Pilot Mixed-Methods Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Food Addiction Is Strongly Associated With Psychopathology and Reduced Psychological Well-Being Among Adults Irrespective of BMI.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026Article
- Food addiction research in India: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Addiction spectrum disorder: a conceptual framework for comprehensive understanding of addictive disorders.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Addiction to Cosmetic Procedures: A Scoping Literature Review.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2025Article
65 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
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The diagnostic construct of "food addiction" is a highly controversial subject. The current systematic review is the first to evaluate empirical studies examining the construct of "food addiction" in humans and animals. Studies were included if they were quantitative, peer-reviewed, and in the English language. The 52 identified studies (35 articles) were qualitatively assessed to determine the extent to which their findings indicated the following addiction characteristics in relation to food: brain reward dysfunction, preoccupation, risky use, impaired control, tolerance/withdrawal, social impairment, chronicity, and relapse. Each pre-defined criterion was supported by at least one study. Brain reward dysfunction and impaired control were supported by the largest number of studies (
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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.