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Abstract
Food craving is a subjective and specific physiological response that produces an intense and hard-to-resist desire for high-calorie and palatable foods. The objective of this study was to identify the relationship between state-trait anxiety levels and food craving indexes in a Mexican population. The sample consisted of 382 adult participants (297 women and 85 men) from the Valley of Mexico, who answered three instruments: the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), the Food Craving Questionnaire Trait (FCQ-T), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data analysis was conducted using Spearman’s correlation test. The result showed a positive correlation between trait-anxiety and food craving (r = .42, p < .001), as well as a negative correlation between trait anxiety and food craving (r = −.12, p < .01). Additionally, FCQ-T scores were analyzed based on high and medium trait anxiety levels in both women and men, revealing significant differences (p < .001). This study contributes to the understating of the relationship between anxiety and food craving, and helps to identify one of the factors influencing increased consumption of highly palatable foods.

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