Obese people and drug addicts may have something in common.
A new University of Buffalo study found obese people's eating habits are similar to a drug addicts' patterns.
When researchers gave snacks to obese and non-obese women, the healthy-weight women wanted less of the treat over time, but the obese women wanted more.
About sixty women, half obese, had to perform tasks to "earn" points towards eating.
The overweight women were more likely to do more to get food, and in some cases, the obese women wanted the food even if they didn't like it.
Researchers say the pattern is similar to one seen in drug addicts.
However, they stop short of calling overeating an actual addiction.
The study appears in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 90: 304-313, 2009.
First published May 20, 2009; doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27283
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27283
Vol. 90, No. 2, 304-313, August 2009