Erratum: A Systematic Review of the Application And Correlates of YFAS-Diagnosed ‘Food Addiction' in Humans: Are Eating-Related ‘Addictions' a Cause for Concern or Empty Concepts?

The proposition of so-called ‘food addiction' (FA) in the scientific literature has stimulated a recent surge in research and debate. The concept of FA is controversial, and opinion is divided. Many of the findings depend upon the use of a single instrument called the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS). This review systematically examined FA, as defined by the YFAS, reported in 40 experimental human studies published in or after 2009. The results indicated that much of the literature makes the supposition that food addiction is an accepted neurobiological disease, consistent with substance use disorders; an interpretation based on very limited data. This raises the question as to whether those individuals who meet the YFAS criteria for diagnosis are truly ‘addicted' to food or if they experience significant impairment to their psychological wellbeing and quality of life as would be expected in clinically recognised addictive disorders. At the present time, little research has investigated the extent to which a psychometric self-assessment of FA symptomatology can elucidate a harmful relationship with target foods in the diet. A positive YFAS diagnosis is usually positively associated with BMI and strongly linked with the presence of binge eating, but certain exceptions within the literature were revealed. Further clarification is required as to whether so-called FA is sufficiently different to existing conditions and traits to warrant classification as a distinctive disease phenotype rather than an expression of strong habits and preferences.

科学文献中所谓的「食物成瘾（Food Addiction, FA）」这一命题，近期催生了大量研究与学术争议。食物成瘾这一概念本身颇具争议，学界观点分歧显著。现有诸多研究结论均依赖于单一测评工具——耶鲁食物成瘾量表（Yale Food Addiction Scale, YFAS）。本综述系统梳理了2009年及之后发表的40项人类实验研究中，以耶鲁食物成瘾量表为定义标准的食物成瘾相关研究成果。研究结果显示，多数文献默认食物成瘾是一种与物质使用障碍相符的公认神经生物学疾病，但该解读仅基于极为有限的研究数据。这引发了一个核心问题：符合耶鲁食物成瘾量表诊断标准的个体，究竟是真正对食物成瘾，还是仅存在临床公认成瘾障碍中常见的显著心理健康损害与生活质量下降？截至目前，鲜有研究探讨食物成瘾症状的心理计量学自我评估，能够在多大程度上阐明饮食中特定目标食物与个体的有害关联。耶鲁食物成瘾量表阳性诊断结果通常与体重指数（Body Mass Index, BMI）正相关，且与暴食行为的存在显著相关，但现有文献中也存在若干例外情况。目前仍需进一步明确：所谓的食物成瘾，是否与现有疾病及人格特质存在足够显著的差异，足以被归类为一种独特的疾病表型，而非仅仅是强烈进食习惯与偏好的体现。