Confronting food addiction as a community; Food Addicts Anonymous community intervention

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

According to the World Health Organization (2011), obesity is one of the ten most common health problems worldwide. The prevalence of obesity is increasing in all age groups and in most countries and is now considered a threat to human life. Severely obese people usually suffer from serious health problems, which include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, arthritis, and a reduced life expectancy.

In an article written by Marisa Katoaka (A Multilevel Logistic Regression Analysis on the Likelihood of Overeating and Unplanned Eating), it was found that obesity has a reciprocal relationship with emotional pressures, psychological disorders and psychiatric status of a person. It is important to be aware of the role that emotions have when it comes to overeating. Katoaka (2017), recorded that emotional eating is a risk factor that contributes to the probability that a person will overeat, which can contribute to weight gain and obesity.

In a study (Comparison between Mindfulness, Body Consciousness and Stress in Obese and Normal Weight People), Mansooreh Nikoogoftar, PhD collected survey data from the National Institutes of Health and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that found 70% of American adults are overweight or obese. This was in 2012, and since then, the United States has experienced an increase in the percentage of individuals who are overweight or obese. What was shocking was that in 2009, the cost of treating obesity in the United State was estimated at $147 billion, annually, and in 2013 roughly 1 in 5 Americans die of obesity related diseases according to Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

What does this mean? Well, it means that there is a deeper issue here that we are ignoring. The issue you ask? Food addiction. Food addiction manifests itself in this uncontrollable craving for excess food that follows the ingestion of refined carbohydrates, primarily sugar and flour substances. These cravings can have a debilitating affect. Food addiction can literally deteriorate the quality of a person’s life. According to Food Addicts Anonymous (https://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org/) there are four ways in which a person’s life can be deteriorated when dealing with a food addiction:

Physically
Physical challenges occur when an addict has tried numerous methods for weight control, and yet nothing seems to work. They then use extreme measures such as: excessive exercise, purging through vomiting or laxative, or limiting food (anorexia).

Emotionally
An addict’s emotions may become more severe, intense, or unreasonable when eating. The instability can lead to despair, depression, or thoughts of suicide.

Socially
There is an intense obsession of food. Over time, developing friendships or intimate relationships become secondary to eating addictive foods. It may come to a point where an addict will steal or often hide food so that they can eat secretly.

Spiritually
An addict’s spiritual life is affected by a lack of connection to a higher power.

This addiction can become unmanageable when eating sugar, flour, or wheat. What many don’t know is that this biochemical disease is chronic, progressive and sometimes fatal. Some studies have found that mindfulness-based interventions are effective in reducing and changing eating behaviours that can lead to extreme obesity. Helping someone become more aware of their body is proved to be important in physical health and treatment of people with drug abuse, eating disorders and chronic pain. This is where Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous comes in.

Food Addicts Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who have identified that they do have challenges when it comes to healthy eating and are willing to recover from the disease of food addiction. They do this by sharing their experiences, strength and hope with others. On Saturday, January 18^th, 2020 at St. Clements Church, 59 Briar Hill Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Food Addictions Anonymous will be having a community information meeting for anyone who may have questions about their relationship with food. Everyone is welcome to this free meeting, including those who think they may have a food problem or those who are concerned about someone who may.

As an organization, Food Addicts Anonymous believes that food addiction is not a moral or character issue. They utilize the Twelve Step Program to assist members of the community manage or abstain from addictive eating patterns by following a program of sound nutrition and working the Twelve Steps of the program. Individuals who have gone through the process of withdrawing from addictive foods have experience miraculous life-style changes.

For more information about the community information session, visit Food Addicts Anonymous at www.foodaddicts.org. It is a new year; it is time for a new you! You can do better, sometimes you just need a little help.