Relationship between Food Addictive Behavior and Physical Activity in College-Aged Students

Stephen Bailey^1, , Carlie Huberman¹, Rebecca Bryant¹, Stephen Van Rij¹ and Elizabeth Bailey¹

¹Elon University, United States

Cite this paper:
Stephen Bailey, Carlie Huberman, Rebecca Bryant, Stephen Van Rij and Elizabeth Bailey. Relationship between Food Addictive Behavior and Physical Activity in College-Aged Students. Journal of Physical Activity Research. 2017; 2(2):68-72. doi: 10.12691/jpar-2-2-1

Abstract

Background: Food addiction is believed to play a role in the development of obesity. Acute exercise has been associated with reduced cravings for addictive substances. The purpose of this investigation is to determine if food addictive behavior is influenced by physical activity in college-aged students. Methods: 241 college-aged students (18-24 years of age; 55 male, 186 female) were recruited and completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-S). Results: Only 7.9% of participants were diagnosed with moderate (2.5%) or severe (5.4%) food addiction (FA). BMI was higher in participants with food addiction (No FA=24.1±0.3 FA=26.9±1.9, M±SE, p=0.02); however, no differences were found in vigorous (No FA=1851±251 MET-min/week, FA=1920±799 MET-min/week), moderate (No FA=777+107 MET-min/week, FA=869+409 MET-min/week), or walking (No FA=1262±139 MET-min/week, FA=2051+583 MET-min/week) activity. The distribution of participants with Low, Moderate, and High levels of physical activity was similar between No FA and FA. Participants with High (2.10±0.27 symptoms) levels of physical activity displayed more symptoms of food addictive behavior than participants with Moderate (1.41±0.15 symptoms) and Low (1.06±0.27 symptoms) levels (p=0.03). Conclusions: The results of this investigation suggest that high levels of physical activity may be associated with more symptoms of food addiction.

Keywords:
addiction physical activity college-aged

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Ogden CL, Carrol MD, Fryar CD, Flegal CM. Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults and Youth: United States, 2011-2014. NCHS Data Brief. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db219.htm. Accessed June 23, 2017.
[2]	Avena NM, Bocarsly ME, Rada P, Kim A, Hoebel BG. After daily bingeing on a sucrose solution, food deprivation induces anxiety and accumbens dopamine/acetylcholine imbalance. Physiol Behav. 2008; 94(3): 309-315.
[3]	Avena NM, Murray S, Gold MS. Comparing the effects of food restriction and overeating on brain reward systems. Exp Gerontol. 2013; 48(10): 1062-1067.
[4]	Oswald KD, Murdaugh DL, King VL, Boggiano MM. Motivation for palatable food despite consequences in an animal model of binge eating. Int J Eat Disord. 2011; 44(3): 203-211.
[5]	Gearhardt AN, Corbin WR, Brownell KD. Development of the Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2.0. Psychol Addict Behav J Soc Psychol Addict Behav. 2016; 30(1): 113-121.
[6]	Pivarunas B, Conner BT. Impulsivity and emotion dysregulation as predictors of food addiction. Eat Behav. 2015; 19: 9-14.
[7]	Murphy CM, Stojek MK, MacKillop J. Interrelationships among impulsive personality traits, food addiction, and Body Mass Index. Appetite. 2014; 73: 45-50.
[8]	Burger KS, Stice E. Frequent ice cream consumption is associated with reduced striatal response to receipt of an ice cream-based milkshake. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012; 95(4): 810-817.
[9]	Bailey, S.P., Hall, E. E., Fareed, A. Effects of acute exercise on opiate and cigarette craving in methadone patients. Open Sports Sci J. 2011; 4(1): 22-26.
[10]	Abrantes AM, Farris SG, Minami H, Strong DR, Riebe D, Brown RA. Acute Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Affect and Smoking Craving in the Weeks Before and After a Cessation Attempt. Nicotine Tob Res Off J Soc Res Nicotine Tob. May 2017.
[11]	Roberts V, Gant N, Sollers JJ, Bullen C, Jiang Y, Maddison R. Effects of exercise on the desire to smoke and physiological responses to temporary smoking abstinence: a crossover trial. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2015; 232(6): 1071-1081.
[12]	Bernard P, Ninot G, Cyprien F, et al. Exercise and counseling for smoking cessation in smokers with depressive symptoms: a randomized controlled pilot trial. J Dual Diagn. 2015; 11 (3-4): 205-216.
[13]	Giesen ES, Deimel H, Bloch W. Clinical exercise interventions in alcohol use disorders: a systematic review. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2015; 52: 1-9.
[14]	Manthou E, Georgakouli K, Fatouros IG, Gianoulakis C, Theodorakis Y, Jamurtas AZ. Role of exercise in the treatment of alcohol use disorders. Biomed Rep. 2016; 4(5): 535-545.
[15]	Trivedi MH, Greer TL, Rethorst CD, et al. Randomized controlled trial comparing exercise to health education for stimulant use disorder: results from the CTN-0037 STimulant Reduction Intervention Using Dosed Exercise (STRIDE) Study. J Clin Psychiatry. 14 2017.
[16]	Furlanetto KC, Mantoani LC, Bisca G, et al. Reduction of physical activity in daily life and its determinants in smokers without airflow obstruction. Respirol Carlton Vic. 2014; 19(3): 369-375.
[17]	Quehl R, Haines J, Lewis SP, Buchholz AC. Food and mood: diet quality is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in female university students. Can J Diet Pract Res 23 2017: 1-5.
[18]	Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjöström M, et al. International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003; 35(8): 1381-1395.
[19]	Yu Z, Tan M. Disordered eating behaviors and food addiction among nutrition major college students. Nutrients. 2016; 8(11).
[20]	Meule A, Müller A, Gearhardt AN, Blechert J. German version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0: Prevalence and correlates of “food addiction” in students and obese individuals. Appetite. 2017; 115: 54-61.
[21]	Fernandes J, Arts J, Dimond E, Hirshberg S, Lofgren IE. Dietary factors are associated with coronary heart disease risk factors in college students. Nutr Res N Y N. 2013; 33(8): 647-652.
[22]	Lee PH, Macfarlane DJ, Lam T, Stewart SM. Validity of the international physical activity questionnaire short form (IPAQ-SF): A systematic review. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011; 8:115.
[23]	Joy E, Kussman A, Nattiv A. 2016 update on eating disorders in athletes: A comprehensive narrative review with a focus on clinical assessment and management. Br J Sports Med. 2016; 50(3): 154-162.
[24]	ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer; 2018.