Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (YFAS-C)

The YFAS-C is a measure that has been developed to allow the content and reading level of the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) to be appropriate for children. Like the YFAS, it is used to identify those who are most likely to be exhibiting markers of substance dependence with the consumption of high fat/high sugar foods. This 25-item self-report measure includes mixed response categories (dichotomous and Likert-type format). A food addiction symptom (e.g., tolerance, withdrawal, loss of control) count can be obtained which is similar to the criteria for substance dependence of the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Additionally, two items assess clinically significant impairment or distress from eating. Food addiction can be “diagnosed” when three symptoms and clinically significant impairment or distress are present.

Domains Assessed: Eating Behavior, Substance Use and Addictive Behavior

Note: The YFAS-Child is administered to participants ages 5-16.

References: Gearhardt, A. N., Roberto, C. A., Seamans, M. J., Corbin, W. R., & Brownell, K. D. (2013). Preliminary validation of the Yale Food Addiction Scale for children. Eating behaviors, 14(4), 508-512.

Time to Complete: 10 minutes

A complete list of assessments can be found here.