Assessment of food addiction and its contribution to eating disorders and body mass index in the general population.

Background: The modified Yale Food Addiction Scale (mYFAS) was developed to quantify food addiction (FA) symptoms and their level of severity. This study aims to study FA in Israel by validating the Hebrew version of the mYFAS, assess FA prevalence, and test its contribution to eating disorder symptoms and obesity in an Israeli adult sample.

Methods: The Hebrew mYFAS (mYFAS-HEB) was translated and back-checked for accuracy. For validation, we used eating disorder, eating behavior, and depressive symptom questionnaires. We collected data regarding participants' demographics, body mass index (BMI), and dietary consumption. Reliability was tested via a test-retest method. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal reliability assessments, and correlational analyses were also conducted, and hierarchical regression models were used to test the unique contribution of FA symptoms to eating disorders and BMI.

Results: Among the 364 participants, the prevalence of FA was 12%. FA symptoms were correlated significantly with all the other measures, particularly bingeing and uncontrolled eating. Reliability testing yielded a Cronbach's α of 0.88 and a Kuder-Richardson 20 coefficient of 0.81. CFA supported a two-factor structure, and standardized factor loadings confirmed the validity of the mYFAS-HEB. FA symptoms demonstrated a distinct and significant association with both eating disorder symptoms and BMI that was not explained by other measured variables.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that food addiction (FA) is relatively prevalent in Israel, linked to eating disorder symptoms and higher BMI, and can be reliably assessed using the mYFAS-HEB.