Binge Eating Tops Other Eating Disorders: Survey

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Binge Eating Tops Other Eating Disorders: Survey
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay

THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Binge eating tops the list of eating
disorders affecting Americans, with the first-ever national survey on
eating disorders finding it much more prevalent than either anorexia or
bulimia.

Binge eating -- a condition where people undergo frequent, uncontrolled
eating binges without purging -- affects 3.5 percent of women and 2 percent
of men during their lifetime. The condition is strongly linked to obesity.

There have been previous studies that looked at the prevalence of anorexia
nervosa or bulimia nervosa in the population, "but for binge eating, there
had been no previous studies," said lead researcher Dr. James I. Hudson,
director of the Biological Psychiatry Laboratory at McLean Hospital and a
professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

"These are really the first hard numbers for the prevalence of this
disorder," he said during a teleconference to announce the findings on
Wednesday.

According to the new survey, binge eating is more common than either
anorexia nervosa, which strikes 0.9 percent of women and 0.3 percent of
men, or bulimia nervosa, which affects 1.5 percent of women and 0.5 percent
of men.

Binge eating "is associated with severe obesity and all the complications
of obesity," Hudson said. "And, it's often chronic."

That said, the rates of all eating disorders have been increasing,
according to Hudson. "In addition, eating disorders are related to mood
disorders, anxiety disorders, impulse control disorders and substance use
disorders," he noted.

More troubling is the fact that less than half of those with a history of
an eating disorder said they had ever received treatment, Hudson said.

In the survey, Hudson's team collected data on almost 9,300 people from
across the United States who participated in the National Comorbidity
Survey Replication. Among those interviewed, 3,000 answered questions about
eating disorders. The report is published in the February issue of
Biological Psychiatry.

The researchers found that the average duration of anorexia was 1.7 years,
compared with 8.3 years for bulimia and 8.1 years for binge eating
disorder.

"Binge eating is a true eating disorder. It is a major public health
problem," Hudson said. "There is a strong genetic component to binge eating
disorder and, because of this, we might be able to treat or prevent binge
eating and thereby prevent many cases of obesity."

One expert believes the survey will bring more attention to eating
disorders, prompting the U.S. government to spend more dollars in research
on the causes and treatment of these conditions.

"These results back up things that groups like ours have been saying for
the past several years," said Marc Lerro, executive director of the Eating
Disorders Coalition. "There has been relatively little definitive research
done on eating disorders."

Lerro is happy to see that these conditions are getting more recognition.
"People with eating disorders are compromised in how they interact in
school, in the workplace," Lerro said. "For some, it's really a disabling
condition that sometimes leads to death."

That binge eating is the major problem did not surprise Lerro. "The
stereotype that [people with] eating disorders are just pencil-thin girls
is really not comprehensive," he said.

Lerro believes the federal government should be keeping track of the number
of people in the United States who suffer from eating disorders. This year,
the U.S. government is spending only $21 million on research into
treatments for eating disorders, he said.

"This survey is really a wakeup call for the federal government to do more,
like counting the number of people who die each year due to an eating
disorder, counting the number of people who are struggling with eating
disorders, and funding research to determine what is effective in treating
eating disorders," Lerro said.

Another expert believes that eating disorders are even more common than the
survey suggests.

"Eating disorders are more common than many people realize, and the
prevalence is increasing," said Dr. Ellen Rome, head of the section on
adolescent medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. "If you look at all of mental
health, the spectrum of eating disorders is among the most commonly found
health challenges that individuals face."

Moreover, people with eating disorders also have many social problems
related their condition, "from shame, guilt, denial, the egocentricity of
the illness that doesn't let them see how it's affecting their lives," Rome
said.

Binge eating is closely tied in with the U.S. obesity epidemic, Rome added.
"We see any form of disorder eating as a maladaptive coping strategy," she
said. "Eighty percent of obesity is genetic. So, genetics loads the gun.
And the prevalence of binge eating goes hand-in-hand with obesity as one
contributing factor. Many people use binge eating to fill up an empty
space."

Rome also believes that more funding is needed to study the causes and
treatments of eating disorders, including the genetic and social components
of the problem and what treatments work best.

"We are just scratching the surface," she said. "We need better treatments
across the whole spectrum from under-eating to obesity. There is just so
much more we need to know."