Guess Who Binge-Eating Hurts Most? Men
Big surprise. At least to me. Do you know whose binge eating hurts them more? It's men.
According to newswise.com, "Obese men with binge eating disorder are more likely to develop metabolic
syndrome, including high blood pressure, elevated glucose and high cholesterol."
Women, of course, also suffer from this eating disorder but apparently it does not affect them the same way.
Men have generally been under-represented in studies of obesity and of binge
eating disorder, newswise.com quotes Tomoko Udo, Ph.D., associate research scientist in
psychiatry at Yale University and lead author of the study. "People used to
think binge eating was less common in men than women," she said.
But sadly, that's turning out not to be the case. We both are guilty of it.
Binge eating disorder is defined as the repeated consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of time without the vomiting seen in bulimia. People with binge eating disorder also report feeling of a loss of control over their eating.
Though the study was of people already trying to lose weight, so that may have affected some of the outcomes, scientists found that men were three times as likely to meet the criteria for metabolic syndrome, a condition that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Men are often less likely to seek medical help, which may mean that men who do may be suffering more from consequences of obesity and binge eating, Udo pointed out.
Another interesting finding was that, "Overall, the study found few psychological differences between men and women with binge eating disorder, except that women were more likely than men to become overweight earlier and to attempt dieting earlier and men were more likely to say that they engaged in strenuous physical activity in an attempt to lose weight."
Cultural issues may lead to under-diagnosis of binge eating in men, Martin Binks, Ph.D., associate professor of nutritional sciences at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX, and a spokesperson for The Obesity Society, told newswise.com. "It is considered manly to consume big portions."
But sadly, that's turning out not to be the case. We both are guilty of it.
Binge eating disorder is defined as the repeated consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of time without the vomiting seen in bulimia. People with binge eating disorder also report feeling of a loss of control over their eating.
Though the study was of people already trying to lose weight, so that may have affected some of the outcomes, scientists found that men were three times as likely to meet the criteria for metabolic syndrome, a condition that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Men are often less likely to seek medical help, which may mean that men who do may be suffering more from consequences of obesity and binge eating, Udo pointed out.
Another interesting finding was that, "Overall, the study found few psychological differences between men and women with binge eating disorder, except that women were more likely than men to become overweight earlier and to attempt dieting earlier and men were more likely to say that they engaged in strenuous physical activity in an attempt to lose weight."
Cultural issues may lead to under-diagnosis of binge eating in men, Martin Binks, Ph.D., associate professor of nutritional sciences at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX, and a spokesperson for The Obesity Society, told newswise.com. "It is considered manly to consume big portions."
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