Binge Eating Disorder - Occurrence and Risk Factors

Occurrence and Risk Factors

Most people with this disorder are overweight and often obese, but people of a healthy weight can also suffer from it.

About two percent of all adults in the United States (as many as four million people) have binge eating disorder. About ten to fifteen percent of people who are moderately obese and who try to lose weight on their own or through commercial weight-loss programs have binge eating disorder. The disorder is even more common in people who are severely obese.

Binge eating disorder is almost twice as common among women as among men, though the difference between genders is less pronounced than in other eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa. The disorder is found in all cultures and ethnicities. People who are obese and have binge eating disorder often became overweight at an earlier age than those without the disorder. They might also lose and gain back weight more often, or be hypervigilant about gaining weight.

Other risk factors may include childhood obesity, critical comments about weight, low self-esteem, depression, and physical or sexual abuse in childhood. A study in behavior genetics has also suggested that binge eating disorder may have a genetic component. It has been found that 20% of relatives of obese individuals with binge eating disorder also have binge eating disorder, compared to 9% of relatives of obese individuals without binge eating disorder.