According to a questionnaire developed by researchers at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Science & Policy, here are some signs that you may be addicted to food:
-
-
-
- Keeping eating certain foods even if you’re no longer hungry
- Eating to the point of feeling ill
- Worrying about not eating certain types of foods or worry about cutting down on certain types of foods
- When certain foods aren’t available, you go out of your way to obtain them
- Eating in secret
- Feeling guilty after eating particular foods but eat them again soon after
- Making excuses for eating certain foods
- Having problems functioning effectively at work or in social situations because of food and eating
-
-
Other symptoms of food addiction include:
-
-
-
- Obsessive food cravings
- Preoccupation with obtaining and consuming food
- Continued binge or compulsive eating
- Continued attempts to stop overeating and consuming food, followed by a cycle of re-engaging in these destructive behaviors, even amidst undesired consequences
-
-
The Yale Food Addiction Scale is a questionnaire developed by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity to identify people most likely to have an addiction to high-fat and/or high-sugar foods.
The questions are based on symptoms for substance dependence as stated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-R and operationalized in the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders.
For a full set of Self-Assessments, go to the Infact Assessment Page.