Validación transcultural de la escala Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (YFAS-C) al idioma español para evaluar la adicción a la comida en población pediátrica (S-YFAS-c

[Psychometric validation of the Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (YFAS-C) in Spanish in a Mexican population]

Introduction

Introduction: Mexico is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of childhood obesity worldwide. The increase of addictive behaviors at an early age is a possible cause of its development. The Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (YFAS-C) allows identifying children with food addictive behaviors. Objective: to validate the YFAS-C scale in Spanish in a population sample of Mexican children and adolescents. Material and methods: an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed. The study sample consisted of 448 children from seven to 14 years of age. The first stage involved translation into Spanish; a second stage involved the solution of questions with discrepancies; then, a reverse translation into the original language and a review by experts on the subject of eating disorders in pediatric population were performed; and in the last stage, a pilot test in order to culturally adapt the instrument and the evaluation of the psychometric properties was carried out. Results: using the principal component extraction method, four components were identified that explained 47.1 % of the sample variance. In the confirmatory factor analysis, it was found that the goodness-of-fit indices met the required values (CFI = 0.906: GFI = 0.932; AGFI = 0.915, SRMS = 0.007 and RMSEA = 0.043). Conclusions: a validated Spanish version of the YFAS-C scale was obtained for Mexican children and adolescents to assess food addiction.

Preliminary assessment of the degree of food addiction through the Spanish Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (S-YFAS-C) in a pilot pediatric population

INTRODUCTION

The Spanish Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (S-YFAS-C) scale is the first tool adapted to Spanish to evaluate food addiction (FA) in the paediatric population. The aim of this study is to preliminarily evaluate the degree of FA in a non-clinical pilot paediatric population.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A transversal observational study was performed on a convenience sample comprised of boys and girls aged 9 to 12 (4th to 6th year primary school). The main outcome measures were evaluation of FA (S-YFAS-C scale), child feeding attitudes (ChEAT scale) and evaluation of body image (CDRS scale). Moreover, sociodemographic and anthropometric data were collected. A descriptive and bivariate analysis of the main characteristics of subjects and outcome measures was performed.

RESULTS

A total of 21 boys and 24 girls were preliminarily evaluated and the minimum and maximum values obtained were for age (9.48-12.33), weight in kilograms (26.6-64.5), height in centimetres (131-163), BMI (14.2-27.9) and BMI Z-score (-1.36-2.66). The average number of FA symptoms measured with the S-YFAS-C scale is 1.67 ± 1.45 (range 0-7). A total of 20% of the sample shows three or more symptoms for FA, risk of developing a food disorder and distortion of the body image. Moreover, statistically significant differences were observed between desired body image in boys and girls (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The S-YFAS-C scale enables evaluating food addiction in Spanish-speaking boys and girls. The data obtained in regard to quantifying symptoms are similar compared to the original scale (S-YFAS-C: 1.67 ± 1.45 vs. YFAS-C: 2 ± 1.81). The option to score the counting of symptoms is the most sensitive measure to evaluate subclinical food behaviours.

Prevalence of food addiction using the Yale-C scale in Mexican children with overweight and obesity

Background

The prevalence of excess weight and obesity in children has increased significantly worldwide. The concept of food addiction (FA) has been associated with eating-related problems and obesity. Studies on this topic have primarily examined adult samples and little is known about addictive-like eating among Mexican children and adolescents.

Methods

We conducted this study to examinate the prevalence of FA in a group of 291 overweight and obese children and adolescents using YFAS scale for children (YFAS-C) in Mexico.

Results

According to the YFAS-C approximately 14.4% of participants met for FA diagnosis. Forty-two (14.4%) received a FA diagnosis: 14 children and 28 adolescents. The number of FA symptoms in participants who received an FA diagnosis (M = 4.35, SD = 1.07) compared to participants with no FA diagnosis (M = 1.70, SD = 1.53) was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.001). There were no statistically significant gender differences and the proportion of subjects with an FA diagnosis did not differ by age between children and adolescents. FA is a focus of interest in attempting to explain certain behaviors that may contribute to the development of obesity and explain the failure of the weight loose programs in children.