Psychological factors of the development of food addiction in the pandemic period were investigated by scientists of VyatuSU as part of a scientific team
According to them, people who are psychologically focused on past or present and preferring short-term planning, the risk of food dependence turned out to be higher than in people who are focused on the future. Results are published in the Eating and Weight Disorders magazine.
Food addiction is a pathological tendency to an excessive abundant nutrition, the likelihood of which, according to scientists, is strongly rising against the background of stress.
Specialists of the Vyatka State University, together with other Russian scientists, investigated the relationship between the food dependence during isolation at the COVID-19 pandemic and the so-called "psychological time perspective".
This concept denotes the emotionally painted psychological "binding" of the person to his own future, present or past. According to researchers, the temporary perspective characteristic of a person is not only an important factor in the formation of behavior, but also a reliable indicator of psychological well-being and some disorders.
"We assumed that in the conditions of a pandemic, people with a "future" temporary perspective will not be at risk of developing an addiction, unlike those who are focused only on a present or negative past. These categories of people showed a noticeable growth of food addiction during the isolation period. The practical conclusion from the study for ordinary people can be formulated as follows: Build long-term plans for your life - this is the key to your psychological well-being" - noted Mikhail Borisenkov, the head of the project, Senior Researcher of the Institute of Physiology FIC Komi NC UrO RAN (Syktyvkar).
Thanks to the analysis of the questionnaire data, scientists first described the relationship between the type of temporary perspective and the food addiction. According to experts, a shortened time horizon is associated with an increased risk of adverse habits, while the orientation for the future or balanced attitude towards all three aspects of psychological time, on the contrary, reduces this danger.
During isolation, at a pandemic, scientists recorded an increase in the frequency of identification of food dependence by 68 percent. According to researchers, these data are consistent with the growth rates of other types of dependencies - Internet-dependence, alcohol, narcotic.
As VyatSU scientists explained, the results obtained are of great scientific importance for the study of eating behavior disorders. In addition, they allow you to adapt to the prevention of food dependence of psychological therapy methods based on temporary perspective correction.
"Obesity Prevention is one of the priorities of the strategic project "Health Technologies" of the Development Program of the Vyatka State University for 2021-2030. We develop new technologies of functional foods based on the use of food 3D printing. Such an approach will help strengthen the self-control of food behavior"- noted the director of the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of VyatSU, Ekaterina Martinson.
The study was conducted by scientists of Vyatka State University (VyatSU), the Institute of Physiology Komi NC UrO RAN, Ural Federal University (UrFU), Tyumen State Medical University (TYUGMU), Tyumen Cardiology Scientific Center.
In the future, scientists plan to expand the sample and geography of the study, as well as study the physiological mechanisms of the described phenomenon.
Materials and photos RIA NOVOSTI
