Binge Eating
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 08/12/2008 - 00:25.
Anorexia and bulimia are to the most well-known eating disorders. These illnesses, which first entered mainstream consciousness in the 1970s, have been the topics of numerous studies and intense discussion for the last four decades. Recently, however, the federal government christened a new eating disorder — binge-eating.
Binge-eating is not only the newest eating disorder; it is also estimated to be the most prevalent. Although binge-eating disorder has not yet been added to the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), recent research provides strong support for its inclusion. Like bulimics, binge-eaters consume huge amounts of food within short periods of time. Unlike bulimics, however, they do not purge. Not surprisingly, binge-eating is directly linked to severe obesity. In contrast to other eating disorders, binge-eating appears to affect males and females in almost equal numbers.
In February 2007, a Harvard study on eating disorders reported that males accounted for 25% of participants with eating disorders and 40% of participants who were classified as binge-eaters. These findings upset the accepted paradigm of eating disorder demographics. As recently as the 1990s, experts believed that males comprised only 10% of all disordered eaters. The 2007 Harvard study also indicated that binge-eating (without purging) is the most prevalent eating disorder in the United States. Four-times as many women (3.5%), and six-times as many men (2.0%) reported binge-eating as compared with anorexia. Compared to bulimia, approximately twice as many women and men reported problems with binge-eating. In addition, the study found that on average binge-eating disorder persists far longer than anorexia—8.1 years compared to anorexia’s 1.3 years.
The prevalence of binge-eating as a disorder aligns with recent findings on increased rates of obesity in the United States. According to two National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANE) Surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC), the rate of obesity among adults has more than doubled in the last thirty years; for children, the rate has tripled. In 1980, approximately 15% of adults in the United States were obese; by 2004, this rate increased to 32.9%. For children, ages 2-5 years, this rate grew from 5.0% to 13.9% and for children, ages 6-11 years, from 6.5% to 18.8%. The overweight rate among adolescents, ages 12-19, jumped from 5.0% to 17.4%.
Because binge-eaters do not purge like anorexics and bulimics, the health risks associated with binge-eating are different from those associated with anorexia and bulimia. Disordered eaters who purge are at risk of injury from purging activities; they are also at risk for malnutrition and even starvation from failing to consume or digest adequate calories. For binge eaters, who do not purge, the greatest health risks result from consuming and digesting too many calories. Binge-eaters are almost always obese, and suffer from an array of health problems that are directly linked to obesity. These health problems include including type-2 diabetes, certain forms of cancer, coronary disease, high cholesterol, gall bladder problems, osteoarthritis, stroke, and sleep and respiratory problems.
Binge-eaters are also at risk for mental and emotional problems. Overweight and obese children and adults frequently suffer from low self-esteem, decreased quality of life, depression and anxiety. The relationship between eating disorders and mental health disorders can be difficult to discern, since mental health and emotional issues can both contribute to the development of an eating disorder and appear to be the result of one. Binge-eating is associated with an inability to deal constructively with negative feelings. Binge-eaters struggle with compulsive/impulsive thoughts and behaviors related to food. Typically, individuals overeat as a way to self-soothe, to dull feelings of anxiety, shame, anger, depression, trauma, or frustration. Any surge of negative emotion acts as a trigger to overeat. References
Hudson, James I. M.D., Sc.D., et al. The Prevalence and Correlates of Eating Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biological Psychiatry. February 2007.
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