Are you interested in participating in an intervention for addictive eating? We are seeking individuals from the Hunter region with addictive overeating behaviours to determine if a 3-month online program with a dietitian to manage addictive eating behaviours affects brain activation and blood markers

Why is the research being done?

Food addiction is a growing area of research. We are interested in how individuals with food addiction differ compared to those without food addiction. We are also interested in investigating if an intervention for those with addictive eating behaviours is effective at changing health behaviours.

Specifically this project is designed to investigate the cardio-metabolic, neural reward and genetic profiles of individuals with and without symptoms of food addiction and to determine if there are any changes as a result of an intervention treatment for addictive eating. These profiles include blood biomarkers and brain responses to food pictures measured by fMRI. This is an important 

study to help us to better understand food addiction and to determine whether the blood biomarkers and brain responses to food could be contributing to addictive-like eating behaviours. 
This is an important intervention to help us to better understand how to manage addictive eating behaviours.

Who can participate in the research study/trial?

We are looking for males and females aged 18-45yrs years, BMI>18.5 and currently living in the Hunter region with access to the internet.

Pregnant women, individuals with existing health conditions or taking medications that affect dietary intake or weight status are ineligible to participate in the research, additional exclusion criteria may also apply.

What will study participants be asked to do? What does the study involve?

If eligible for the intervention program, you will attend 5 telehealth sessions, get feedback on your dietary intake, goals and strategies suited to your individual personality type over a 3-month period.

You will complete 2 surveys and have two assessments involving a blood test and a brain scan – one at the beginning of the study and another at 3 months after the intervention program.

Contact

If you think you are eligible and are willing to participate in the intervention please complete the eligibility questionnaires here 

Interested participants can contact Professor Tracy Burrows on (02 4921 5514) or Traceresearch@newcastle.edu.au for further information.