Things You Should Know About Binge Eating

Binge eating is an eating disorder in which people feel as if they have lost control of their eating habits and how much they eat. Normally, a binge eater will eat a large amount of food in a short amount of time, and they feel as if they have no control over themselves as they are eating. It is a feeling of not being able to stop eating once they start. The eating is first a comfort issue; they eat to comfort themselves. Later, the eating causes them feelings of guilt and anxiety. Over time, the binge eating becomes a pattern and a habit, but may alter when the person tries to diet.

Binge eating is a common disorder among those who are obese, but is does affect those who are of a normal, healthy weight. It is not something that is normally done alone. If a parent is a binge eater, it is likely that the children are too. This is one reason why binge eaters do not always believe that they are gaining too much weight or even binging at all. The children may gain weight right along with the binge eater, so the binge eater does not associate the weight gain with the eating. They think that they are just naturally overweight and may be embarrassed about their size as well as how much they eat. Often times, they will not seek help because of their misconceptions.

Out of all of the people effected by binge eating disorder, it is said that one-third of those people are male. Adults who seek treatment often say that the problem started when they were either children or in adolescence.

There are things to look for to help determine if a person has binge eating disorder. Often, one of the first signs for a parent is noticing that your child eats a lot of snack food quickly, or noticing that food seems to disappear from the cabinets and refrigerator. Other things to look for include, noticing that your child eats in response to emotional stresses such as a family argument, feeling rejected by friends, or having a hard time in school. If your child seems to feel guilty or disgusted with themselves after eating a large amount of food, hides food containers, or has an increasingly irregular eating pattern, such as skipping one meal and gorging the next, eating a lot of junk foods, and getting up in the middle of the night to eat or eating at other odd times, eating when not hungry at all, eating secretly or trying to hide the fact that they just ate your child may be a binge eater.

A person who is a binge eater, either child or adult, may feel depressed, anxious, guilty. They may be preoccupied with thoughts of food and have trouble concentrating on other things, they may avoid other people or social environments, they may have noticeable weight gain, and they may try to hide their weight gain through wearing baggy clothes.

Although the cause behind binge eating is not completely known, many healthcare professionals have seem depression as a common factor among those who do binge eat, but they are not sure if depression brings on the binge eating or if the reverse is true. One thing that they do know is that a binging episode can be triggered by emotional stress, anger, sadness, boredom, or anxiety. If the person seems to feel better for a while during the binge, it is normally associated with distress. Commonly, a person feels extremely guilty and bad after a binge because they feel as though they have lost control.

Just as with any eating disorder, there are health risks. A binge eater is in danger of gaining weight to the point of it causing them major health problems including, heart disease, diabetes, respiratory and circulatory problems, gall bladder disease, and some kinds of cancer, major depression, and anxiety. People who binge eat need treatment to help them learn how to cope with their emotions and not seek food to comfort them. They need to learn how to eat in moderation and how to use their time to do things besides eating when they are bored. Sometimes, a weight-loss program can be beneficial, but kids and teenagers should only begin such a program under the advice and supervision of a doctor. Family and friends can help by being supportive of them and helping them control their eating habits as well as help them to eat healthier. If you are the parent of a child or teen with binge eating disorder, you can help them by teaching them how to eat better by example. You can also help them by encouraging, and modeling exercise and activity. Another way a parent can help their child is to remember not to use food as a reward, find some other means to reward your child other than food.

Binge eating is an eating disorder that can be overcome with the proper treatment and support. If you think that you or your child may be a binge eater, the first step to overcoming it is to talk to your doctor. .