Background: Hedonic hunger is defined as an increase in appetite caused by the expectation of enjoying food as a result of a desire to eat for unavailable foods in the absence of a metabolic need.
Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between hedonic hunger and excessive food cravings in young adults.
Method: The " Power of Food Scale " was used to evaluate the hedonic hunger levels of the individuals, and the “ Food Craving Questionnaire " was used to evaluate the excessive food cravings. Additionally, the sociodemographic, characteristics and anthropometric measurements of the individuals were collected through the prepared questionnaire. A total of 106 individuals, 64 males and 42 females, between the ages of 19 and 30, studying at the Faculty of Medicine, participated in this study.
Results: The mean age of the individuals was 19.69 ± 1.18 years and according to the body mass index classification, 17.0% were underweight, 47.1% had normal body weight, 21.7% were preobese, and 14.2% were obese. The mean score of the participants on the power of the food scale was 3.03 ± 0.68 and the mean score on the food craving scale was 96.93 ± 33.72. Both the mean score of the power of the food scale and the mean score of the food craving scale were found to be higher in women than in men (p<0.05). It was discovered that preobese individuals had higher mean scores on the cues and guilty subfactors of the food cravings scale than underweight individuals (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in the food power scale mean total score and subscale scores of the participants according to body mass index classification (p>0.05). As the total score and sub-factor scores of the excessive food craving scale increased, it was determined that the total and subscale scores of the power of food scale used in the evaluation of hedonic hunger in this study increased (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that there was a relationship between food cravings and hedonic hunger. Determining the factors that cause hedonic hunger will contribute to the improvement of the nutritional habits of people. (ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4326-0000,0000-0003-1097-6325)
Anahtar Kelimeler: hedonic hunger, food craving, eating behaviour
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