Eating Addiction

Prevalence of the Addictions: A Problem of the Majority or the Minority?

“…Last year prevalence rates of eating disorders (particularly BED) among older teens and adults varied between 1 and 2% (Allison, Grilo, Masheb, & Stunkard, 2005; Gadalla & Piran, 2007; Gleaves & Carter, 2008; Hay, 1998; Hoek & Hoeken, 2003 [four large studies were cited in their review, but three examined only females]; Smith, Marcus, Lewis, Fitzgibbon, & Schreiner, 1998; Spitzer et al, 1992; Timmerman, Wells, & Chen, 1990 [examined bulimia nervosa]), though Goossens, Soenens, and Braet (2009) found a prevalence of 7.4% among a sample of Belgium teenagers, Cook (1987) found a prevalence of 6.4% among U.S. college youth (single item used), and MacLaren and Best (2010) found a prevalence of 14.9% among 19-year-old Canadian college youth. Lewinsohn, Seeley, Moerk, and Striegel-Moore (2002) found a prevalence of 3–4% for 24-year-olds.…”

“…Found in primarily small samples (each composed mostly of women), between 20% and 46% of teens and adults with an eating disorder (of some type) reported alcohol or other drug problems (Freimuth et al, 2008; Gleaves & Carter, 2008; Holderness, Brooks-Gunn, & Warren, 1994; Lacey & Evans, 1986; Lewinsohn et al, 2002; Timmerman et al, 1990 [alcohol abuse, about 6% of males and 23% of females with bulimia]), though only 1% of a small sample of 90 female and 5 male teenagers with an eating disorder reported alcohol or other drug use disorder (Castro-Fornieles et al, 2010). …”