Investigation of factors affecting hedonic hunger status of adult individuals

In the absence of metabolic necessity, hedonic hunger refers to the appetite for food, as a result of desire to eat against non-available foods, and it is important to determine hedonic hunger to establish a balanced relationship between food consumption and obesogenic lifestyle. This study was planned to elucidate the effect of factors affecting hedonic hunger status of adult individuals. The study was conducted on a total of 315 adult individuals, 158 female and 157 male, aged between 18 and 65 years living Bandırma between November 2018 and January 2019. A questionnaire was applied to determine the personal characteristics, diseases and lifestyle habits of individuals. The Power of Food Scale (PFS) was applied to determine the hedonic hunger status of individuals. Some of the factors that may affect the hedonic hunger of individuals were assessed by the Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) and Coopersmith Self-Esteem Scale. Anthropometric measurements of individuals were taken based on the declaration. In this study, the mean age of individuals was 37.95 ± 12.30 years. The mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of women 24.43±5.21 kg/m2 and 25.43±3.62 kg/m2 for men. The PFS total score of the individuals was found to be 2.68 ± 0.73 points. Hedonic hunger was more common in women than men. (p<0.05). In this study, hedonic hunger is higher in individuals between the ages of 18 - 27 and 28 - 38 compared to 39 - 48 and ≥ 49 age group (p<0.05). Hedonic hunger differs according to BMI groups, hedonic hunger increases as BMI increases, but no significant relationship was found between BMI groups and hedonic hunger in this study (p>0.05). It was observed that the individuals who took part in the study increased the total score and the sub-factor scores of the study, so the nightly sleep and snack consumption increased (r=0.253; p<0.001). It was determined that the number of weight loss diet regimens was higher in individuals with hedonic hunger (p<0.05). The ABIS scale total and sub-factor mean scores were higher in individuals with hedonic hunger than those without hedonic hunger (p<0.05). Chocolate and chocolate products, cream cake and pastry products, chips, fast-food, fried potatoes, bread types, pasta, pastries and ice cream consumption and the positive correlation between the PFS score was found statistically significant (p<0.05). As the ABIS total score and the sub-factor scores of the individuals participating in the study increased (r=0.649; p<0.001), as Barratt impulsivity total score and sub-factor scores increased (r=0.196; p<0.001), as the total score of Coopersmith self-esteem increased (r=0.060; p>0.05), hedonic hunger increased positively. As a result, individual differences such as age, gender, BMI, which lead to differences in susceptibility to environmental nutritional cues associated with hedonic hunger; it has been shown for the first time that psychological factors such as excessive nutrient requirements, physical activity, consumption of snacks, diet and the psychological factors such as impulsivity and self-esteem affect the hedonic hunger. Determining the factors that lead to hedonic hunger will contribute to correct orientation in the individual nutritional programs, to improve nutritional habits, to better understand the signals of homeostatic and hedonic hunger, and to increase the success in the prevention and treatment of obesity by cognitive behavioral therapies. This study is important because it is the first study on the factors affecting hedonic hunger and hedonic hunger and there is a need for further studies. Keywords: Food craving, hedonic hunger, impulsivity, power of food, self-esteem