Thursday, April 4, 2013

Addicted to Food?

Have you ever sat down and eaten an entire jar of peanut butter in one sitting? For many people we would say no, but there are a group of people that can relate to this idea. It may not be peanut butter, but it could be something else. Eating large amounts of food at one time can considered a food addiction. The challenge with food addiction is that they are less identifiable than eating disorders. The lines become blurred. An eating addiction overlaps with an eating disorder in one aspect. The person suffering from the addiction does not have a healthy relationship with food. A group called Overeaters Anonymous has recently been formed. This is the same idea as Alcoholics Anonymous. People with a food addiction get a “high” from eating food like alcoholics get from alcohol consumption. Those that suffer from this can attend OA meeting to get help. This addiction gets in the way of the lives of those that suffer from it. American society needs to pay more attention to food addiction and educate people on healthy relationships with food so that maybe some people can avoid this addiction

1 comment:

  1. Actually, OA was formed in 1960, and there are now 8 groups that use the 12 Steps to battle eating problems. Check out fatboythinman.com/resources for contact info for them, and other food-addition resources.

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