Food addiction and nutritional status in adolescents of a public high school in Mexico

© Servicio de Publicaciones-Universidad de Murcia. Objective: To know the prevalence of food addiction according to age, sex, and body mass index and to determine the association between food addiction and nutritional status in adolescents from northern Mexico. Method: Cross-sectional study with a descriptive and correlational design, carried out during August and September 2018; the study population was comprised by 630 adolescents, students, ranging from 15 to 17 years of age, from a public high school in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Anthropometric measurements were taken and the Yale Food Addiction Scale questionnaire was used. Results: A sample of 245 adolescents predominantly female (53.1%), with a mean age of 15.83 years; mean body mass index was 23.18 kg/mt2 (S = 3.74) in males and 24.57 kg/mt2 (S = 4.00) in females; 87.8% of adolescents showed positive to the frustrated desire to stop consumption criterion, 36.3% tolerance, and 34.3% consumption despite the consequences; 20.7% of overweight adolescents showed food addiction. Conclusions: The majority of adolescents showed normal weight, while women showed a body mass index (BMI) higher than men; less than half of the participants had food addiction; positive criteria prevailed in women, and adolescents with overweight and obesity, and older. No association was found between food addiction and nutritional status.