H E A L T H:
Compulsive Overeating
(Binge-eating disorder)
What Is It?
Compulsive overeaters may eat a light breakfast and skip lunch. Then they think about food all day, and come home and stuff themselves. (That's called binging.) Afterwards, they feel guilty and promise to make tomorrow "a good day."
Not all compulsive overeaters binge. Some eat secretly, or snack all day long.
Unlike bulimics, people with binge eating disorder do not regularly vomit. Unlike anorectics, people with binge eating disorder do not over exercise.
People with binge eating disorders:
- Are overweight
- Have weight fluctuations
- Have a history of diet failures
- Eat to fill emptiness, extreme feelings of insecurity, loneliness
- Eat to keep others away from them. Often girls or women who have been sexually abused eat compulsively to get fat to protect themselves from further abuse.
- Eat when they're not feeling hungry
- Feel guilty and ashamed of binge eating
- Feel out of control and unable to stop eating during binges
- Have mood swings
How Common Is It?
As common as bulimia
(that means millions of people suffer from it). 30% of
people in weight loss programs have binge eating
disorder!
What Causes It?
No one knows for sure. Here are a few theories:
- Dieting. When you diet, you give your body less food. Because your body craves what it needs, it wants to eat more. The binging, which can get way out of control, might be your body's way of making up for what it didn't get while you were dieting.
- Family problems. Growing up is never easy, but people with eating disorders have a particularly difficult time. Most grow up in families where problems are denied. (Who has problems? Not us!) Conflict is avoided whenever possible. Change is considered a threat. Family loyalty is valued over individuality. Some people with eating disorders say they feel smothered in their families. Others feel abandoned, misunderstood, and alone. There is often heavy pressure on the kids to succeed. In families like these, it is hard to talk about one's feelings of self-doubt.
If teens don't feel like they have any control over their own lives
they may use food and body weight as the only way to get control.
- Our culture. Western society is obsessed with thinness. Every day TV, movies and magazines blast us with the message that thin is "the only way to be." Never before in history have females been encouraged to be as thin as they are today in the U.S. and other industrial countries. It's just not healthy, in fact, it's killing many of us. How thin is thin enough?
Medical Problems
If compulsive overeating (binge eating disorder) is not treated and stopped, it can lead to permanent damage to the body. Even death. Here are some common health problems caused by binging:
- Cardiovascular disease. Dangerous clogging and narrowing of the arteries in and around the heart.
- Increased risk of certain cancers. These include breast, bowel, and uterine (of the uterus).
- Diabetes. A disease in which the body has trouble maintaining blood sugar levels.
- Arthritis. A disease which causes painful swelling and inflammation of the joints (fingers, elbows, knees).
people with eating disorders can be cured.
E A T I N G
D I S O R D E R S