Compulsive Overeating Disorder Facts & Statistics

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

• It is estimated that more than 30% 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% of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese (Journal of American Medicine (JAMA))

• Obese individuals have a 20% elevated risk of depression. Specifically for Caucasian, college-educated individuals with obesity, the depression risk increases to 44 percent. (www.obesityaction.org)

The facts may be worrying, but recovery is possible

Eating Recovery Center provides comprehensive treatment designed to help you stop your disordered eating behavior and then 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.

1. “Difficulties in Detecting Eating Disorders in Both Normal and Higher Weight Patients,” Julie Friedman, PhD and Susan McClanahan, PhD, CEDS. (2016)