Tufts Researchers Advocate Reclassifying Obesity as Addictive Disorder
A recent analysis of scientific literature has argued in favor of reclassifying obesity as an addictive disorder based on criteria described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, version IV, in part because such a reclassification would help initiate policy changes aimed at curbing “the obesity epidemic.” Patricia Allen, et al., “Rationale and Consequences of Reclassifying Obesity as an Addictive Disorder: Neurobiology, Food Environment and Social Policy Perspectives,” Physiology & Behavior, May 2012. Concluding that previous research supports its contention that “common dietary obesity satisfy [sic] all DSM criteria for an addictive disorder,” the article draws parallels between “Big Tobacco” and “Big Food” to suggest that strategies used to reduce smoking rates, such as increased taxation and limits on advertising, could be valid policy models for addressing “food addiction/food dependence.” In particular, the study urges lawmakers and other policy makers to view obesity not as a personal problem but “as a multi-factorial complex disease” with environmental, neurobiological and physiological causes.
“The current food environment encourages these addictive-like behaviors
where increased exposure through advertisements, proximity and increased
portion sizes are routine,” conclude the study authors. “Taking lessons from
the tobacco experience, it is clear that reclassifying common dietary obesity
as an addictive disorder would necessitate policy changes (e.g., regulatory
efforts, economic strategies, and educational approaches). These policies
would be instrumental in addressing the obesity epidemic, by encouraging
the food industry and the political leadership to collaborate with the scientific
and medical community in establishing new and more effective therapeutic
approaches.”
Additional details about opposition to the reclassification of obesity as an
addictive disorder appear in Issue 432 of this Update.
