Binge eating: January 2005 Archives

I've just discovered a really clear, helpful introduction to binge eating disorder at the National Institutes of Health. Binge eating disorder is a disorder related to bulimia nervosa in which people binge on large amounts of food but do not compensate for this, for example by making themselves sick or using laxatives.

The factsheet covers commonly asked questions about the condition such as 'what is binge eating disorder?', 'how do I know if I have it?', 'what causes it?' and 'how can it be treated?'.

An article in today's Times newspaper discusses Night Eating Syndrome, a rather neglected eating problem in which sufferers binge eat primarily or only at night.

For further reading, have a look at:

Binge eating disorder and the night-eating syndrome
A Stunkard, R Berkowitz, T Wadden, C Tanrikut, E (1996)
Binge eating disorder and the night-eating syndrome, International Journal of Obesity, 20(1):1-6
and
ME Gluck, A Geliebter, T Satov (2001)) Night Eating Syndrome Is Associated with Depression, Low
Self-Esteem, Reduced Daytime Hunger, and Less Weight Loss in Obese Outpatients, Obesity Research 9:264-267

If you're looking for a support group to get help with an eating disorder, Joanna Poppink's excellent site has a very useful listing of groups across the USA and internationally.