Presentation Title
Exploring the Relationship of Addictive Eating Behaviors Between Adolescents and Parents
Abstract
Abstract
Food addiction (FA) describes negative eating behaviors similar to behaviors commonly witnessed with other addictive disorders such as drugs or alcohol. Understanding the prevalence of FA and/or FA symptoms could be helpful for early intervention and best practices for weight management in adolescents with obesity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine FA and FA symptoms in adolescents and their parents prior to- and following an adolescent weight management program. Data collected in 2013-2015 from a 12-week, adolescent (12-18 years) weight management program was utilized. An evaluation conducted 1-2 weeks prior to- and following the 12-week program assessed FA in adolescents and their parents. Before beginning the weight management program, 31.6% adolescents met the criteria for FA with 52.6% reporting ≥3 FA symptoms suggesting moderate levels of addictive-like eating. Prior to the program only 10.5% of parents met the criteria for FA with 21.1% reporting ≥3 FA symptoms. No significant correlation was seen between child and parent symptom count. For the 10 child-parent pairs who completed the follow up evaluation, the average symptom counts of children significantly decreased (2.0 to 1.0, p<0.05) while parent’s symptom counts increased although not significantly (1.7 to 2.1, p=0.13). After the program, only 10% of adolescents met criteria for FA. While the focus of this study was not to determine if a weight loss program helped decrease symptoms of FA, the program did appear to help manage symptoms as there was a significant difference in symptom counts pre to post as well an average reduction of almost 1.00% body fat. Since FA is still both a new and controversial topic, further research is needed to explore its impact on obesity and effectiveness of intervention.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Connie Tompkins
Secondary Mentor Name
Susan Kasser
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Program/Major
Exercise Science
Primary Research Category
Health Sciences
Exploring the Relationship of Addictive Eating Behaviors Between Adolescents and Parents
Abstract
Food addiction (FA) describes negative eating behaviors similar to behaviors commonly witnessed with other addictive disorders such as drugs or alcohol. Understanding the prevalence of FA and/or FA symptoms could be helpful for early intervention and best practices for weight management in adolescents with obesity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine FA and FA symptoms in adolescents and their parents prior to- and following an adolescent weight management program. Data collected in 2013-2015 from a 12-week, adolescent (12-18 years) weight management program was utilized. An evaluation conducted 1-2 weeks prior to- and following the 12-week program assessed FA in adolescents and their parents. Before beginning the weight management program, 31.6% adolescents met the criteria for FA with 52.6% reporting ≥3 FA symptoms suggesting moderate levels of addictive-like eating. Prior to the program only 10.5% of parents met the criteria for FA with 21.1% reporting ≥3 FA symptoms. No significant correlation was seen between child and parent symptom count. For the 10 child-parent pairs who completed the follow up evaluation, the average symptom counts of children significantly decreased (2.0 to 1.0, p<0.05) while parent’s symptom counts increased although not significantly (1.7 to 2.1, p=0.13). After the program, only 10% of adolescents met criteria for FA. While the focus of this study was not to determine if a weight loss program helped decrease symptoms of FA, the program did appear to help manage symptoms as there was a significant difference in symptom counts pre to post as well an average reduction of almost 1.00% body fat. Since FA is still both a new and controversial topic, further research is needed to explore its impact on obesity and effectiveness of intervention.