Natural course of preadolescent loss of control eating.

Abstract

Cross-sectional evidence shows that loss of control (LOC) eating is a common and psychopathologically relevant experience in preadolescence. This study sought to investigate the natural course of preadolescent LOC eating in relation to psychopathology and body weight trajectory. A community sample of 55 children ages 8-13 years with LOC eating, defined as at least one episode of LOC eating within the past 3 months (LOC+), and 59 matched children without LOC history (LOC-), were assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination adapted for Children and self-report questionnaires every 6 months over a 2-year follow-up. Of the LOC+ children, 54.5% of children remitted from LOC eating, 3.6% showed persistent LOC eating, and 41.8% showed recurring LOC eating over the follow-up period. Of the LOC- children, 19% revealed an onset of LOC episodes, mostly with a low level of stability. Multilevel modeling showed that LOC eating predicted a partial binge eating disorder diagnosis and greater global eating disorder psychopathology, but not depressive symptoms or growth in body fatness. Between-person higher shape concern and weight-related teasing, as well as within-person decreases in shape concern and increases in depression, predicted a greater likelihood of subsequent LOC eating. The results indicate a moderate stability of LOC eating in preadolescent children, with prognostic significance for clinically relevant eating problems and eating disorder psychopathology.

The Specificity of Psychological Factors Associated with Binge Eating in Adolescent Boys and Girls

“…; American Psychiatric Association 2013). Nevertheless, most studies addressing BE in samples of children and adolescents use cut-off-values of monthly BE or even fewer (Croll et al 2002;Hilbert, Hartmann, Czaja, and Schoebi 2013;Tanofsky-Kraff et al 2011) and research suggests that individuals with subthreshold BE do not differ from individuals displaying full syndrome BED with regard to overweight, eating disorder symptoms and associated psychopathology (Striegel-Moore et al 2000). Furthermore, there is evidence that the frequency of BEepisodes is not associated with impairment and psychiatric comorbidity, whereas the feeling of loss of control over eating seems to be the crucial feature of clinically significant BE (Vannucci et al 2013).…”

Pediatric Loss of Control Eating and High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Concentrations

“…In addition, LOC eating was assessed at one time point only. Approximately 30%-50% of youth report persistent LOC eating over time, 67,68 thus it is unknown if the significant effects were driven by youth with persistent LOC eating. Moreover, although hsCRP has been shown to be a clinically useful marker of low-grade chronic inflammation, 1 other markers of inflammation, such as proinflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines, were not examined.…”

Examination of central body fat deposition as a risk factor for loss-of-control eating

“…Subjective LOC over eating also prospectively predicts weight gain (6,7) and the development of objectively large binge-eating episodes (8,9). Existing eating disorder risk models comprehensively address psychological factors (see references 10,11), but few incorporate biologically based, objectively measurable risk factors, beyond BMI (in kg/m 2 ), that may shed light on the mechanisms underlying the development of LOC eating and purging behaviors.…”