A national survey found that many adults ages 50–80 meet clinical criteria for addiction-like responses to ultra-processed foods.
Middle-aged women, especially those in Generation X, show notably higher rates than older age groups.
The study used a standardized addiction screening tool and linked addictive eating patterns to health, weight perception, and social isolation.
Most of us know that ultra-processed foods aren’t exactly healthy.
But a new study from the University of Michigan suggests that these products can capture our attention in ways that look strikingly similar to addiction. Rather than nicotine or alcohol, the “substance” in this case is the highly rewarding mix of salt, sugar, and fat that many of these foods are built around.
Published in the peer-reviewed journal Addiction, the research zeroes in on adults aged 50 to 80 — a group now transitioning from middle age into older adulthood. These are people who, as children and young adults in the 1970s through the early 2000s, grew up amid the explosion of ultra-processed foods in the American food landscape.
“We hope this study fills a gap in knowledge about addiction to ultraprocessed foods among older adults, as measured by a well-studied and standardized scale,” researcher Lucy Loch said in a news release.
“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 ultraprocessed foods in this age group.”
The study
The researcher team didn’t just ask people how often they ate fries or soda — they used a clinical screening tool adapted from substance use diagnostics called the modified Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0.
More than 2,000 Americans between ages 50 and 80 completed this scale through the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. That’s a nationally representative survey that tracks health trends among older adults.
Participants were asked about real behaviors and experiences linked to addiction-like patterns: intense cravings, repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut back, withdrawal-like symptoms when trying to eat less, and even avoiding social settings due to fear of overeating. These aren’t casual habits, but the kinds of questions clinicians use when thinking about substance dependence.
What the findings show
The results paint a nuanced picture. Overall, a significant share of adults in the 50-80 age range showed patterns that meet clinical criteria for addiction to ultra-processed foods.
But the rates weren’t uniform: women in their 50s and early 60s — the core of Generation X — had the highest prevalence, with about 21% meeting addiction criteria, compared with about 10% of men in the same age group.
Among the older segment (ages 65–80), these percentages dropped — to roughly 12% for women and about 4% for men.
The study also found links between addiction-like eating and how people saw their own weight and health: those who felt overweight, or who reported poorer mental or physical health, were more likely to meet the criteria. And adults who reported feeling socially isolated were several times more likely to show addiction-like patterns than those who didn’t.
Researchers emphasize that this isn’t about moral failure or willpower. Instead, it suggests that engineered foods can have powerful effects on behavior — effects that echo patterns seen in other kinds of addiction — and that exposure early in life may make a difference.
“These findings raise urgent questions about whether there are critical developmental windows when exposure to ultraprocessed foods is especially risky for addiction vulnerability,” researcher Ashley Gearhardt said in the news release. “Children and adolescents today consume even higher proportions of calories from ultraprocessed foods than today’s middle-aged adults did in their youth.
“If current trends continue, future generations may show even higher rates of ultraprocessed food addiction later in life. Just as with other substances, intervening early may be essential to reducing long-term addiction risk across the lifespan.”