Food Addiction: A Critical Reaction Paper and Analysis of Research

This reaction paper examines the controversial concept of food addiction, analyzing research, personal experiences, and critical perspectives. The paper begins with a definition of food addiction and provides examples of addictive foods. It then summarizes two commentaries discussing the views of clinicians and the addictive nature of food consumption. The author disagrees with the view that food addiction is a brain disease, arguing that it is a dynamic process influenced by genetic and environmental factors. The author also criticizes the research methodologies used in the commentaries and provides personal experiences to support their arguments, highlighting the vulnerability of young people to food addiction. The author concludes that food addiction is real but difficult to understand and suggests ways to control it, such as eating healthy foods, taking snacks before shopping, eating a balanced diet, and seeking counseling. The paper also raises several questions regarding the provided commentaries and discusses the causes and consequences of food addiction.

Running Head: FOOD ADDICTION 1
A Reaction Paper on Food Addiction
NAME
COURSE
UNIVERSITY/AFFILIATION

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Food addiction can be defined as compulsive consumption of highly palatable foods.
Some of the examples of addictive foods include; pizza, cheese, gummy candy and chocolate
(Cullen et al., 2017). This area has raised a lot of controversies; for instance, media argues that it
is a very useful concept, while scientists are not sure whether it is useful. The main aim of this
paper is to provide a summary of two commentaries and discuss whether ‘food addiction’ is real
basing on my personal experiences as well as assessing the provided commentaries.
Firstly and foremost, the first commentary has discussed the views of clinicians and other
people regarding obesity, food addiction and Binge Eating Disorder (BED). In conclusion, the
clinicians suggested that BED is very different to food addiction (Davis, 2017). On the other
hand, the second commentary is all about addictive disorders (Schulte, Potenza & Gearhardt,
2017). In my arguments, I disagree with Davis (2017) that food addictive is a brain disease. This
is because food consumption is a very important aspect in every person’s life. In my views, food
addiction is not a static process rather dynamic; for instance, a person may develop an interest of
eating a certain type of food which may not be necessarily as a result of any external factors such
as media. Then, genetic factors influences that person to continue taking the same type of food
day in day out. Other than genetic factors, environmental factors such as media, family
interactions and friend groups are also vital. Besides, I criticize the research methodology that
was used by Schulte et al. (2017) to gather information about eating addiction. This is because
they focused their study on food with high-fat as well as high-sugar only. For a research to be
accurate, it should be carried out in different environments; for instance, the researchers would
have considered all types of food not limited to high-fat and high-sugar only.
Furthermore, I criticize the methodology that was used by Cullen et al. (2017). This is
because observation was not used for information gathering. The information that was provided
by the participants through interviewing could not be relied upon because some participants may
give the wrong information. The medical practitioners could have observed the way overweight
individuals respond to treatment and record what they have seen. Observation and interviewing
should both be used to give the accurate information. Other than observation, purposive
sampling method is prone to errors, hence the data collected may be inaccurate (Cullen et al.,
2017). Besides, this method is also biased; for instance, many women took part in the study,
hence gender biased. Apart from methodology, I feel that ‘food addiction’ label increases
stigmatization rather than reducing. Also, it may lead to health problems such as osteoporosis
and high cholesterol. This can be well elaborated using neurological explanations. I raise the
following questions regarding the provided commentaries:
 What are the similarities and differences between food and drug addiction?
 Can food addiction be generalized or limited to certain kind of food?
 What are some of the ways that can be used to prevent stigma?
 What is the link between obesity and food addiction?
In my personal experience, young people are the most vulnerable to food addiction as
compared to the older people. This is because they are overexposed to high-fat foods such as
chips. Other than exposure, they are also very stressed due to exams and sexual abuse.
Consequently, young people eat certain type of food as a way of dealing with stress; for instance,
I often eat chips when am stressed. In addition, young people are influenced with environmental
factors such as friends and social media. For instance, I’ve been visiting my friends who like

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pizza and chips. This has influenced me to eat those types of food as a result. The following are
some the ways that I use to control food addiction:
 Eating healthy foods such as fruits.
 Taking some snacks before going to the shopping centers.
 Eating a balanced diet.
 Visiting psychiatrists for counselling, hence coping effectively with stress.
In conclusion, food addiction is real. However, it is sometimes difficult to understand some
of the reasons as to why some people become addicted. Emotional regulation is one of the causes
of food addiction. The following are some of the problems that are caused by food addiction;
digestive issues and isolation. In my personal experience, young people are the most vulnerable
to food addiction as compared to the older people and children. However, food addiction is not a
permanent condition as one can overcome it by eating a balanced diet and healthy foods.

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References
Cullen, A. J., Barnett, A., Komesaroff, P. A., Brown, W., O'Brien, K. S., Hall, W., & Carter, A.
(2017). A qualitative study of overweight and obese Australians' views of food
addiction. Appetite, 115, 62-70.
Davis, C. (2017). A commentary on the associations among ‘food addiction’, binge eating
disorder, and obesity: Overlapping conditions with idiosyncratic clinical
features. Appetite, 115, 3-8.
Schulte, E. M., Potenza, M. N., & Gearhardt, A. N. (2017). A commentary on the “eating
addiction” versus “food addiction” perspectives on addictive-like food
consumption. Appetite, 115, 9-15.