Research Trends in the Diagnostic Classification of Food Addiction and Future Tasks

Background: Although people tend to be exposed to food addiction today, there are no formal diagnostics for Food Addiction. Thus, clinical application for therapy is difficult. The present study reviews the clinical characteristics, mechanisms, and measurement tools, and presents opinions on psychiatric classification to suggest directions for further research.Methods: The authors conducted a literature search using the terms food addiction or FA. The review included 54 Korea and international studies from 1956 to 2021.Results: Food addiction has reported similarities with substance use disorder and binge eating disorder. Consequently, it seems to be more reasonable to categorize it as substance or behavioral addiction rather than an eating disorder. Further research is needed on whether food addiction can be classified as a behavioral addiction in that food does not have intoxication properties by itself. Further, it is worth considering the dimensional classification of binge-eating-related spectrum disorder, given the behavioral similarities.Conclusions: Several studies have attempted to reveal the characteristics of food addiction, but researchers’ views on the psychiatric classification are inconsistent. The addition of food addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM) seems to require a phased approach. Further work should also verify the effective treatment methods, focusing on underlying mechanism.