Is Food Addiction Like Drug Addiction

We have an epidemic of obesity in the US and it is getting worse by the day. For the first time in history we are seeing an increase the levels of Type 2 Diabetes in teenagers. Type 2 can be directly linked to lifestyle although there are some genetic aspects at play. So the question is why do we have so many people who are eating themselves to death? When you routinely see men and women who way in at 300 or 400 pounds there has got to be something different going on than just the physical response to being hungry.
It seems to me that food addiction is a very real problem because we have taken the idea of food away from satiating a hunger and have linked it to emotions. I bet the majority of Americans never feel hunger pangs once a week. Why? Because they are eating all the time for emotional reasons so they never let their bodies become hungry. We have turned food into a comforter and an entertainment experience. We are using food to manipulate are feelings and cover up what is really going on in our lives. I think there is a great need for and understanding of how food is becoming an addictive substance and treatment like we find in drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers. We have go to learn to deal with the underlying causes of over eating if we are going to beat this obesity epidemic that threatens to bankrupt our health care system.
We can not continue to treat obesity as only a choice that people make to overeat. That is like telling the alcoholic to just stop drinking or telling the drug addict to just stop taking pill or snorting. Addiciton is much more complex than that. If anything, we are learning that addiction and rehab are tied to both psychological and physical causes. There is some study now of the affect of simple carbohydrates on brain chemistry that may cause a euphoric feeling when consumed. I know I feel really great when I eat carbs, for a while anyway, and sometimes I don't even want to eat but something forces me to put candy and chips in my mouth.
I really think we could do a lot for people with food addiction if we would realize that the same methods used in drug rehab may work for people who can't stop eating. It is worth a try because the current levels of obesity can not be sustained for any length of time. Already the current generation of young people is the first one in history with a life expectancy less than their parents. It is time to take a hard look at food addiction.