More than just eating too much, which most people will find themselves doing once in a while, binge eating reflects a recurrent behaviour pattern of losing control, bingeing food (eating, in a limited period of time, a larger amount of food than most people would eat under similar circumstances) and feeling associated shame and guilt afterwards. People experiencing binge eating disorder don’t try to compensate with strategies such as purging or excessive exercise following a bingeing episode.
Binge eating disorder was only recognised as a diagnosis in 2013, much later than anorexia and bulimia.
The longer-term health complications associated with this type of eating disorder include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and osteoarthritis (due to wearing down of the cartilage that cushions the ends of bones at the joints).
Also unlike anorexia or bulimia, which predominantly affect woman, binge eating disorder affects an estimated 3.5% of women and 2% of men during their lifetimes.
Although it may first emerge in childhood and adolescence, binge eating more typically occurs in early adulthood. Bingeing can be observed in people of all body sizes, although many individuals who experience binge eating will be in a higher weight range.