• Nearly 1 in 5 middle-aged women show signs of food addiction, study finds
• Generation X most vulnerable after growing up surrounded by ultra-processed foods
• Rates are double those of older Americans who encountered processed foods later in life
Gen X may be paying the price for growing up in the snack-food boom. A new University of Michigan study finds that people in their 50s and early 60s show high rates of addiction-like behavior around ultra-processed foods — especially women.
Researchers found 21% of women and 10% of men in this age group meet the criteria for food addiction, compared with just 12% of women and 4% of men aged 65 to 80. The difference? Baby Boomers only encountered mass-produced snacks and “diet” foods as adults, while Gen X grew up surrounded by them.
The addiction test
The study used the Yale Food Addiction Scale to track symptoms such as intense cravings, failed attempts to cut back, and withdrawal-like effects when cutting down on foods like chips, fast food, and sugary drinks.
Unlike alcohol or tobacco, food addiction skews heavily female. Researchers point to the marketing blitz of the ’80s and ’90s — low-fat cookies, frozen dinners, and “diet” bars sold as healthy but designed to hook.
Other factors may be in play. Researchers found that food addiction was strongly linked to poor mental and physical health, weight struggles, and social isolation. Adults who felt isolated were more than three times as likely to show addictive eating patterns.
“These findings raise urgent questions about whether there are critical developmental windows when exposure to ultra-processed foods is especially risky for addiction vulnerability,” said senior author Ashley Gearhardt, professor of psychology at U-M and director of the Food and Addiction Science & Treatment Lab.
“We hope this study fills a gap in knowledge about addiction to ultra-processed foods among older adults, as measured by a well-studied and standardized scale,” said Lucy Loch, a graduate student in the U-M Department of Psychology.
“Today’s older adults were in a key developmental period when our nation’s food environment changed. With other research showing clear links between consumption of these foods and risk of chronic disease and premature death, it’s important to study addiction to ultra-processed foods in this age group.”
A warning for the future
Gen X may be the first generation living most of their lives in a processed-food world — but not the last. Today’s kids consume even more. Unless habits change, researchers warn, tomorrow’s older adults could face even higher addiction rates.