The Relation Between Body Mass Index and Substance Use: A True Can of Worms

[摘要] In a recent article by Sansone and Sansone,1 the authors nicely demonstrated that the pattern emerging from research on the relationship between obesity and substance misuse is most remarkable for its inconsistency. That is, both positive, negative, and no associations between obesity and substance use have been reported in the literature. The authors note that some studies found an inverse relationship between body mass index (BMI) and alcohol use, which may be the result of a “brain reward site competition” among different substances, such as food and drugs. Indeed, such an interpretation is also in line with a possible “addiction transfer” in patients with obesity after bariatric surgery. Specifically, emerging evidence suggests that post-bariatric surgery patients are at risk for substance use disorders (SUDs), a substantial proportion of which are new-onset SUDs.2 In turn, there are also reports of weight gain and changes in food preferences in patients in SUD recovery.3 In this commentary, I would like to highlight that there are numerous factors that need to be considered when examining the relationship between obesity and substance misuse and that these factors likely account for inconsistent findings.

[学科分类] 精神健康和精神病学