Binge Eating Disorder Affects Est. 3.5% Of Women (2010).(Mind and Body)

Carolyn Coker Ross, M.D.--

The National Institutes of Mental Health estimates that 3.5% of women and 2% of men have BED. Binge eating disorder is more prevalent than anorexia or bulimia. Sixty percent of those with BED are female and forty percent are male, which is the largest category of eating disorders that affects men. Unlike bulimia, those with BED do not have compensatory mechanisms to offset their binging. They do not purge through self-induced vomiting, the use of laxatives, diuretics or through compulsive exercise. BED sufferers share the common co-occurrence of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and substance use disorders with bulimia sufferers. Those …