In the decade between the early 1990s and early 2000s, a clear link between familial alcoholism risk and obesity has become apparent in the United States. The link is more prominent among women, for whom it is not explained by potentially confounding sociodemographic variables, smoking, alcohol consumption, substance dependence, or major depression. These findings provide epidemiological support for the etiologic links between addiction and overeating or obesity documented in neurobiological studies.15 Moreover, our are consistent with the hypothesis that relatively recent environmental changes have contributed to this link. The fields of obesity research and addiction research have a mutual interest in working together to find treatments for obese individuals from high addiction-risk backgrounds, and developing a more detailed understanding of shared etiology between these conditions.
