Can People Be Addicted to Food?

Study supports theory that they can, just as they can be addicted to drugs, alcohol, smoking

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By CBS NEWS
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Story Created: Apr 6, 2011 at 3:29 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Apr 6, 2011 at 3:29 PM AKDT

(CBS News)  

New research shows that people with addictive eating behaviors have brain activity that is similar to people with drug or alcohol addictions - all the more important in light of statistics showing two-thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight.

 

CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton explained on "The Early Show" Tuesday that, "Researchers at Yale, where this small study was done, were really seeking to look at the two questions here of biology and psychology, and how they may interact with the condition of obesity.

 

"So what they did is they looked at 39 women. They devised what they called a food addiction score questionnaire -- asked them about their behaviors and their responses to food, scored them high or low, then put them in a functional MRI, which really looks at our brain's activity, areas of the brain that light up when they get activated.

 

 

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