BACKGROUND: Eating pathologies among bariatric surgery candidates are common and associated with adverse surgical outcomes, including weight regain and low quality of life. However, their assessment is made difficult by the great variety and inconsistent use of standardized measures. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review was to synthesize current knowledge on the prevalence of binge eating disorder (BED) in presurgical patients and to make a critical appraisal of assessment tools for BED. METHODS: A search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from January 1994 to March 2017. Data were extracted, tabulated and summarized using a narrative approach. RESULTS: A total of 21 observational studies were reviewed for data extraction and analysis. Prevalence of BED in bariatric populations ranged from 2% to 53%. Considerable variation in patient characteristics and in BED assessment measures was evident among the studies. In addition, several methodological weaknesses were recognized in most of the studies. Ten different psychometric instruments were used to assess BED. Clinical interviews were used in only 12 studies, though this is the preferred tool to diagnose BED. CONCLUSION: Study heterogeneity accounted for the variability of the results from different centers and methodological flaws such as insufficient sample size and selection bias impaired the evidence on the magnitude of BED in surgical settings. For the sake of comparability and generalizability of the findings in future studies, researchers must recruit representative samples of treatment-seeking candidates for bariatric surgery and systematically apply standard instruments for the assessment of BED.

Frailty, a multifactorial ageing-related syndrome characterized by reduced resistance to stressors and possibly associated with low-grade systemic inflammation (LGSI), results in negative health outcomes and compromises healthy ageing. There is a growing body of evidence on the relationship between dietary habits, LGSI and the risk of frailty. Consumption of dietary ultra-processed products (UPP) could negatively contribute to these conditions. In this article, we intend to: (i) discuss the role that ultra-processed food products (UPP) might have on the development of frailty considering the inflammatory potential of this type of food; and (ii) to raise awareness on deleterious effects of excess UPP intake in development of adverse health outcomes, in particular, frailty and compromised healthy ageing. UPP are industrial formulations whose nutrient profile has been associated with inflammation and altered gut microbiota. Besides, diets with a greater presence of unprocessed foods and antioxidants have been linked to the reduction of oxidative stress and the expression of inflammatory biomarkers. Because inflammation is believed to be a contributing factor in the development of frailty, it is possible that UPP would contribute to the onset or increase of this condition. Importantly, the increasing consumption of UPP in younger populations might pose a greater risk to the development of compromised healthy ageing in the long term.