Frequency of food addiction and its association with depression risk in women

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the frequency of food addiction and the risk of depression in women. The study consists of women aged 18 years and older who applied to a private nutrition counseling and education center. The sample size was calculated to be 126 with 95% confidence interval and 5% error margin, and it was decided to reach 150 people with waste margin when the prevalence of food addiction were determined to be 9% (based on the data in the literature). The participants were included in the study by reading and signing the informed consent form, and after a face-to-face interview, anthropometric measurements, Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and a questionnaire covering the general characteristics of the individuals were applied. The data obtained from the study were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows 25.0. Independent t test was used to compare age, anthropometric measurements and mean body composition of the women according to their food addiction status. According to the test results, there was a significant difference between the mean values of body weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, body fat mass, body fat percentage, lean body mass, lean body percentage and muscle mass values according to the women's food addiction. There was a significant difference between the depression score and the mean number of symptoms of food addiction according to the women's food addiction. It was seen that the depression score and the number of symptoms of food addiction of the food addicts were higher than the non-addictive women.