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When binge eating isn't a sometimes thing |
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Written by asap
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Monday, 05 March 2007 |
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When the term “eating disorder” came into the collective consciousness over the last couple of decades, it was generally taken to mean anorexia, an obsession with thinness to the point of starvation; or bulimia, the practice of purging to stay skinny.
But the most common food-related affliction in this country has nothing to do with being thin.
It’s Binge Eating Disorder.
According to a national survey released last month, 3.5 percent of women and 2 percent of men are battling binge eating, compared to 1.5 percent of women and .5 percent of men who are bulimic, and less still who are anorexic.
Binge eaters do not purge and are not obsessed with weight — most of them are obese, and 40 percent are men.
“They are eating not because they are hungry, but because they are bored, anxious or depressed,” says Heather Kitchen, an eating disorders specialist at Pathways Center for Counseling. “What’s underlying that is there is something in their lives that they are not taking care of. They are trying to fill that need with food.”
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BUT WAIT
Of course, most of us binge eat from time to time, right?
We eat a whole pizza and wash it down with a six pack of beer. When we’re stressed, we make numerous trips to the vending machines. We consume so much at Thanksgiving dinner, we unbuckle our pants at the table.
And two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese.
But that is not binge eating disorder, says Madelyn Fernstrom, director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Weight Management Center.
A person with BED eats large amounts of food past the point of feeling full — sometimes to the point of pain — in a short amount of time twice a week for at least six months.
They are not happy eaters, who love the taste of food and keep eating it for that reason. To label them as emotional eaters is an understatement.
“Most of us in the general population feel sometimes we overeat,” says Fernstrom. “That’s a disorder of the land of plenty, where food is available 24-7. A better term for binge eating is compulsive overeating. They are eating for emotional reasons and are unable to stop.”
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IN HIS WORDS
A classic example: Ron Saxen would order two Big Macs, a large order of fries and a chocolate shake at McDonald’s, start eating that food while driving to Taco Bell to order more food and then move on to the next fast food place.
But his binge wouldn’t end there.
He would stop at the grocery store to buy ice cream, hot fudge and candy. He estimates he consumed 10,000 calories in one bingeing episode.
“I would say, ’Starting tomorrow, I will never do this again,”’ says Saxen, 44, who was hard core from 1982 to 1995. “But pretty soon a stressful situation comes along. Instead of dealing with it you get depressed. You don’t have a girlfriend, my clothes don’t fit because I’ve gained 70 pounds. The cycle repeats itself and repeats itself.”
A former model, Saxen, who is 6-foot-1, gained 70 pounds in six months, and weighed 295 at one point. He was so big he hid from his agent.
“You’re eating food and it has a function,” he says. “The function is, ’I don’t want to deal with life.’ When I put food into me, I don’t have to think about my life. Food is a way to numb yourself.”
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GETTING THE WORD OUT
Saxen says he never knew there was a name for what he was going through.
There was no National Eating Disorders Association in the early 1980s, no Binge Eating Disorder classification. He didn’t meet other binge eaters (because of the shame factor, a lot of binge eaters don’t talk about their disorders). The focus has always been more on anorexia and bulimia.
“Anorexia looks like death,” says Saxen. “Bulimia, you’re vomiting. I think society looks at a binger as someone who is just being a P-I-G. People will say, ’Fat boy. Just don’t go to McDonald’s. Don’t go to the drive thrus.”’
The National Eating Disorders Association includes binge eating as part of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, which wraps up Saturday.
“We are relieved that binge eating disorder is finally being acknowledged as the serious problem that it is, and how it affects people’s lives,” says Lynn Grefe, CEO, for NEDA. “With all the eating disorders, including EDNOS (Eating disorders otherwise not specified), there is a lot of disruption in a person’s life and these people need and deserve appropriate help and treatment.”
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SO DO I HAVE IT?
BED is difficult to diagnose, says Fernstrom.
Some of the symptoms include rapid weight gain, weight fluctuations, eating late at night, hoarding food, consuming large quantities of food in a short amount of time to the point where your stomach is aching.
In terms of treatment, there is a debate about whether to treat the obesity (since it’s a health hazard) or the bingeing with counseling that focuses on dealing with emotions, treating depression and anxiety and improving self esteem and body acceptance.
The first step is admitting to a medical professional you have a problem, says Fernstrom.
“’Is my eating out of control?” she says. “Do I feel no lifestyle change seems to be working, whether it is Weight Watchers, preparing meals you are buying online? Are you going, ’I just can’t do this?’ Then you should be evaluated.”
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Megan Scott is an asap reporter based in New York. | Only registered users can write comments.
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