Survey Shows Binge Eating Most Prevalent Eating Disorder

A new study by Harvard psychiatrists aims at highlighting eating disorders as a top public health concern in America. The study, published in the February 1, 2007 issue of Biological Psychiatry, is the first to provide concrete figures on the prevalence of binge eating disorder. They show that 3.5 percent of women and 2 percent of men suffer from binge eating--more than double the rates of anorexia and bulimia.

The study further showed that while the average duration of anorexia was 1.7 years, the average duration of binge eating was more than eight years.

Hopefully, these findings serve as a bit of a reality check on both obesity and eating disorders, stressing that eating disorders aren't simply driven by a desire to lose weight, but are driven by strong psychological and genetic factors--factors that may also be behind many cases of obesity. They also show just how widespread eating disorders are--not just among Americans, but also a growing number of men, who account for about a third of binge eaters, anorexics and bulimics according to the study, whereas past figures have estimated male sufferers at just 10 to 15 percent.

Read more: Binge Eating Tops Other Eating Disorders: Survey

ABSTRACT: The Prevalence and Correlates of Eating Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication