Preference for Sweet Foods and Higher Body Mass Index in Patients Being Treated in Long-Term Methadone Maintenance

• Published in: Substance use & misuse Vol. 42; no. 10; pp. 1555 - 1566
• Main Authors: Nolan, Laurence J., Scagnelli, Lisa M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colchester Informa UK Ltd 01.01.2007; Taylor & Francis Group; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Caloric intake; Choice Behavior; craving; Dietary Carbohydrates - administration & dosage; Drug addiction; Eating behaviour; Energy Intake - drug effects; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Female; food choice; Food consumption; Food Preferences - psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Methadone; Methadone - therapeutic use; Middle Aged; nutrition; obesity; opiates; Opioid-Related Disorders - diagnosis; Opioid-Related Disorders - psychology; Opioid-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Psychoanalysis; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Sugar; Surveys and Questionnaires; sweet preference; Taste - physiology; Toxicology; Human; Obesity; Drug addiction; Replacement therapy; sweet preference; Nutrition; Craving; Psychology; Nutrition disorder; Patient; Opiates; Methadone; Narcotic analgesic; Feeding preference; Long term; Feeding; Body mass index; Addiction; Maintenance treatment; Psychiatry; Nutritional status; food choice; Food
• ISSN: 1082-6084; 1532-2491
• DOI: 10.1080/10826080701517727

Opiate use has been associated with preference for sweets in both humans and animals. In 2002, the food preferences and eating habits of non-institutionalized patients in methadone treatment and controls were measured and compared. Questionnaires were administered to 14 patients and 14 controls with similar demographic characteristics (there were 19 women and 9 men ranging in age from 19 to 59 years). The patients reported higher consumption of sweets, higher eagerness to consume sweet foods, and a wish to consume quantities larger than that desired by controls. Patients had a significantly higher body mass than controls. The study's limitations are noted. These findings suggest a link between methadone and a desire for calorically dense foods. A study of eating behavior is warranted.