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

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.