Contrary to common belief, binge eating is the most frequent eating disorder, according to the first national census on eating disorders.

The prevalence of binge eating out-paces other well-known eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, according to the study conducted by researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.

The study is based on data obtained in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), which surveyed more than 9,000 adults nationwide from 2001 to 2003.

Researchers found that binge eaters comprised 3.5 percent of the female sample and 2 percent of the male sample. The incidence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa afflicted less than 2 percent of women and less than 1 percent of men.

About 0.9 percent of women and 0.3 percent of men reported suffering at some point from anorexia nervosa – a disorder characterized by an exaggerated fear of weight gain which leads to self-starvation, according to the report.

The study found 1.5 percent of women and 0.5 percent of men reported the condition of bulimia nervosa, in which binge eating is followed by attempts to compensate by methods such as self-induced vomiting, excessive laxative use or exercise.

‘Binge eating isn’t talked about much,’ said Michelle Gallant, nutritionist and health educator at the SU Health Center. ‘More people are doing it than we realize.’

Although binge eating is not currently an official psychiatric diagnosis, the study -published Feb. 1 in the medical journal Biological Psychiatry – calls the disorder a ‘major public health burden’ because of its direct link to severe obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

‘I think of binge eating as a private problem, which means it may be less obvious at, let’s say, the dining hall or restaurant than anorexia is,’ said Meaghan Monfort, a junior religion and international relations major.

According to the study, the average lifetime duration of anorexia was 1.7 years, compared to 8.3 years for bulimia and 8.1 years for binge eating disorder.

‘It’s good to have some updated numbers,’ Gallant said. ‘It’s good to see attempts to evaluate the number of eating disorders.’

Lifetime anorexia nervosa is significantly associated with low current weight – body-mass index less than 18.5 – whereas lifetime binge eating disorder is associated with current severe obesity – body-mass index greater than 40.

Although most respondents with 12-month bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder report some role impairment, only a minority of cases ever sought treatment.

According to the study, eating disorders are frequently associated with other psychopathology and role impairment, and are frequently under-treated.

While the topic of binge eating is relatively new, it’s similar to anorexia and bulimia in that it is the combination of various factors, said Dialma Miranda, admissions coordinator at the Klarman Eating Disorder Center at McLean Hospital.

‘Sometimes there’s a genetic component, other times there’s a trauma history,’ Miranda said. ‘It’s a controversial issue.’

James I. Hudson, M.D., ScD is the lead author of the study. Hudson is the director of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Program at McLean Hospital and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D., principal investigator of the NCS-R; Eva Hiripi, of Harvard Medical School and Harrison Pope Jr., M.D., director of McLean Hospital’s Biological Psychiatry Laboratory, co-authored the study.

‘Binge eating is definitely a problem that needs to be taken seriously,’ said Vinny Napolitano, a junior political science, American history and political philosophy major. ‘People just don’t understand the dangerous repercussions that come out of it.’

Published on February 6, 2007 at 12:00 pm