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What are the Facts About Compulsive Overeating?

In addition to understanding the causes and symptoms of compulsive overeating, it’s also helpful to understand the facts and statistics regarding compulsive overeating.

Facts About Compulsive Overeating

  • It is estimated that more than 30 percent of higher weight patients attempting to lose weight meet diagnostic criteria for binge eating disorder (BED) and/or bulimia nervosa (BN). 1
  • A complex set of hormones influence and determine hunger and satiety cues as well as how we feel, think and behave around food; an individual’s weight and eating behaviors are largely determined by neurobiology rather than one’s “motivation” or drive to lose weight. 1
  • Biological and genetic factors prime a subset of the population to overeat. 1
  • More than one-third of adults in the US are obese, and approximately 17 percent of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese (Journal of American Medicine (JAMA)).
  • Obese individuals have a 20 percent elevated risk of depression. Specifically for Caucasian, college-educated individuals with obesity, the depression risk increases to 44 percent. (www.obesityaction.org).
  1. "Difficulties in Detecting Eating Disorders in Both Normal and Higher Weight Patients," Julie Friedman, PhD and Susan McClanahan, PhD, CEDS. (2016)

Know when to seek help for overeating

Eating Recovery Center provides comprehensive treatment for compulsive overeating. This program is designed to help you stop your disordered eating behavior and identify the bio/psycho/social contributors to your compulsive overeating. It’s only then that a full and lasting recovery can begin. To learn more, please call us at 877-825-8584.

Binge Eating Treatment & Recovery Program

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