A multisite investigation of binge eating behaviors in children and adolescents.

Abstract

The phenomenology of childhood and adolescent loss of control (LOC) eating is unknown. The authors interviewed 445 youths to assess aspects of aberrant eating. LOC was associated with eating NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript forbidden food before the episode; eating when not hungry; eating alone; and experiencing secrecy, negative emotions, and a sense of "numbing" while eating (ps < .01). Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed a subgroup, most of whom reported LOC eating. Cluster members reported having a trigger initiate episodes, eating while watching television, and having decreased awareness regarding the amount consumed. The authors conclude that aspects of LOC eating during youth are similar to aspects of adult episodes, but a youth-specific presentation may exist. Findings may provide an intervening point to prevent excessive weight gain and eating disorders.Keywords binge eating; loss of control eating; children; adolescentsThe prevalence of pediatric overweight has nearly tripled in recent years (Ogden et al., 2006). Overweight during youth puts individuals at high risk for becoming obese adults (Field, Cook, & Gillman, 2005;Freedman, Khan, Dietz, Srinivasan, & Berenson, 2001;Guo, Wu, Chumlea, & Roche, 2002;Whitaker, Wright, Pepe, Seidel, & Dietz, 1997;Williams, 2001). Given the serious untoward medical (Adams et al., 2006;Freedman et al., 2001) and psychosocial (Puhl & Brownell, 2002;Strauss & Pollack, 2003) consequences of excess weight, overweight during childhood and adolescence is a major public health problem. Prevention and early intervention are critical to reduce the current epidemically high prevalence of pediatric overweight (Styne, 2003). Targeting behavioral factors that promote excessive weight gain may be a potential point of intervention. However, clarification of relevant behavioral factors is required before prevention efforts may be designed and implemented.Binge eating is defined as eating a large amount of food given the context, during which a sense of lack of control over eating is experienced (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). Recurrent binge eating is the hallmark behavior of binge eating disorder BED; (APA, 2000). Compared to obese adults without an eating disorder, adults with BED suffer from poorer physical health (J. G. Johnson, Spitzer, & Williams, 2001) and higher levels of eating disorder psychopathology (e.g., Masheb & Grilo, 2000;Wilfley et al., 2000) and are more likely to be diagnosed with a comorbid psychiatric disorder (e.g., Marcus, 1995;Wilfley et al., 2000;Yanovski, Nelson, Dubbert, & Spitzer, 1993). BED and subthreshold binge eating are often associated with excess body weight and obesity (de Zwaan, 2001;Yanovski et al., 1993). Not only is BED a disorder of clinical significance (Wilfley, Wilson, & Agras. 2003), but some (Sherwood, Jeffery, & Wing, 1999;Yanovski, Gormally, Leser, Gwirtsman, & Yanovski, 1994), although not all (Wadden, Foster, & Letizia, 1992), data suggest that the presence of the ...

Subtyping children and adolescents with loss of control eating by negative affect and dietary restraint

“…For example, binge eating may provide a distraction from external stressors (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991) or enable a "trade-off," whereby the aversive emotions preceding binge eating (e.g., anger) are replaced by less aversive emotions subsequent to binge eating (e.g., guilt; Kenardy, Arnow, & Agras, 1996). Indeed, preliminary evidence suggests that youth with LOC eating problems are more likely than those without eating problems to endorse emotional eating in general (Goossens, Braet, & Decaluwe, 2007;, and to report that LOC eating episodes occurred in response to a negative emotion (Tanofsky-Kraff, Goossens, et al, 2007).…”

“…Whereas by adulthood, most individuals with BN and BED report an extensive dieting history (e.g., de Zwaan et al, 1994;Kurth, Krahn, Nairn, & Drewnowski, 1995), some (Decaluwe & Braet, 2005;Field et al, 2003;Tanofsky-Kraff et al, 2004) but not all (Claus, Braet, & Decaluwe, 2006;Decaluwe, Braet, & Fairburn, 2003;Glasofer et al, 2007) cross-sectional studies in children support an association between dieting and binge eating. In one study, most children recalled the onset of LOC eating prior to their first attempt at dieting (Tanofsky-Kraff, Faden, Yanovski, Wilfley, & Yanovski, 2005), and another study found that only a minority endorsed having eaten a forbidden food and/or restricting their food intake prior to an episode of LOC eating (Tanofsky-Kraff, Goossens, et al, 2007). Similarly inconsistent findings regarding the role of dieting in the etiology of BED are reported (e.g., Howard & Porzelius, 1999;Spurrell, Wifley, Tanofsky, & Brownell, 1997), and are in contrast to BN, in which dieting typically precedes and helps maintain the disorder (e.g., Pederson Mussell et al, 1997;Fairburn, Stice, Cooper, Doll, Norman, & O'Connor, 2003).…”

Emotion regulation and binge eating in children

“…[1][2][3] Also, children with symptoms of BED engage in eating in response to negative affect. [4][5][6] Yet, it is unclear whether binge eating in children is associated with deficits in emotion regulation and which emotion regulation strategies are problematic.…”

Verhaltensmaße des Kontrollverlustes beim Essen: Bissgröße und Bissgeschwindigkeit

“…Eine weitere relevante Frage ist, ob diese Maße von negativem Affekt beeinflusst werden. Denn Kinder mit Essanfällen berichten zwar retrospektiv, dass negativer Affekt ihren Essanfällen vorausgeht Eddy et al, 2007;Tanofsky-Kraff, Goossens et al, 2007;Tanofsky-Kraff, Theim et al, 2007), ein solcher Zusammenhang konnte jedoch sowohl im Labor (Hilbert et al, 2010) als auch im natürlichen Lebensalltag (Hilbert, Rief, Tuschen-Caffier, de Zwaan, Czaja, 2009) nicht eindeutig belegt werden, was die Gül-tigkeit von Störungsmodellen, die eine antezedente negative Stimmung als einen der wichtigsten Aufrechterhaltungsfaktoren für Essanfälle konzeptualisieren (Castonguay, Eldredge, Agras, 1995;Fairburn, Cooper, Shafran, 2003;Goldschmidt, Aspen, Sinton, Tanofsky-Kraff, Wilfley, 2008;Waters, Hill, Waller, 2001) (Glasofer et al, 2007;Hilbert u. Czaja, 2007;Hilbert et al, 2010).…”