Gender and racial/ethnic differences in binge eating symptoms in a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States

Abstract

Objective-Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most prevalent eating disorder in the U.S. adolescent population. Both BED and subthreshold binge eating disorder (SBED) are associated with physical and mental health problems. Gender and racial/ethnic differences in prevalence of binge eating in a nationally representative sample of adolescents have been reported but have not yet been assessed in relation to individual symptoms of binge eating. We examined gender and racial/ethnic differences in endorsement of eight binge eating symptoms in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents. *Corresponding author: Angela E. Lee-Winn is now at National Institutes of Health, Eunice Shriver Kennedy National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 6100 Executive Blvd 7B13 Rockville, MD 20892 USA, angela.lee-winn@nih.gov. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Conflict of InterestS. Reinblatt has received royalties from the Osler Institute for Past Board Review CME Lectures; non-financial support (travel) from Sunovion, Actavis and Alcobra; consulting for the National Board of Medical Examiners. R. Mojtabai has received research funding and consulting fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals and royalties from UptoDate © . All other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. ContributorsA. Lee-Winn contributed to the study conceptualization, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of the acquired data, and drafting and revision of the manuscript. S. Reinblatt, R. Mojtabai, and T. Mendelson contributed to interpretation of the study results and critical revision of the manuscript. All authors have approved the final manuscript. HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author ManuscriptMethods-We used data from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A;-2004, a nationally representative cross-sectional study of adolescents aged 13 to 18 years (n=9,336). We compared binge eating symptoms across genders and racial/ethnic groups using multivariable regression models. Discussion-Our findings suggest significant gender and racial/ethnic differences in binge eating symptom presentation. Future work should explore reasons for these gender and racial/ ethnic differences and consider these differences when determining how best to prevent and treat binge eating in adolescents. Results-Females

Prevalence of binge and loss of control eating among children and adolescents with overweight and obesity: An exploratory meta‐analysis

“…The prevalence rates of binge/LOC eating for females and males with overweight and obesity were 28.5 and 24.0%, respectively. On one hand, this finding (i.e., higher prevalence among females) agreed with the known tendency reported in previous literature that girls were more likely to report disordered eating behaviors (Britz et al, 2000;Lee-Winn et al, 2016;Severi et al, 1993).…”

“…The research literature on the difference in binge/LOC eating across race groups has been inconsistent, with some studies showing higher prevalence rate of binge/LOC eating among the whites when compared with non‐whites (Doyle et al, ; Johnson et al, ), while others showing no difference, or even contrary results (Cassidy et al, ; Eddy and Tanofsky‐Kraff, 2007; Lee‐Winn et al, ). In the present meta‐analysis, no significant difference was found between the prevalence rates among the white (33.0%) and non‐white (34.2%).…”

“…The prevalence rates of binge/LOC eating for females and males with overweight and obesity were 28.5 and 24.0%, respectively. On one hand, this finding (i.e., higher prevalence among females) agreed with the known tendency reported in previous literature that girls were more likely to report disordered eating behaviors (Britz et al, ; Decaluwé and Braet, ; Lee‐Winn et al, ; Severi et al, ). However, the nonsignificant difference between males and females was in line with the research literature for adults, which suggested that, compared with other eating disorders, gender difference in binge eating was smaller and less obvious (Grucza et al, ; de Zwaan ).…”

A Randomised Experiment Evaluating the Mindful Raisin Practice as a Method of Reducing Chocolate Consumption During and After a Mindless Activity

“…Overeating is associated with higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression in a number of large-scale studies (e.g. Jung et al 2017;Lee-Winn et al 2016), while the association between binge eating and psychological distress is also clearly recognised (Elliot et al 2013;Gan et al 2018). Literature has evidenced the impact of depression, anxiety and stress, or "wellbeing" on overeating and binge eating and provides a clear rationale for controlling for these effects in any experimental studies in eating behaviours.…”

Compulsão alimentar em indivíduos com excesso de peso na Atenção Primária à Saúde: prevalência e fatores associados

“…Outros autores [43][44][45] também não encontraram associação entre etnia e compulsão alimentar. Todavia, alguns estudos apontam diferenças étnicas nas trajetórias de desenvolvimento 46,47 e apresentação clínica do referido transtorno [46][47][48] , características não investigadas no presente estudo.…”