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Binge-eating is seen as eating disorder
It is recognized as growing health problem in U.S.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

By SUE VORENBERG
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

"Helen" doesn't mind that she hasn't eaten chocolate in 21 years.

In fact, the longtime member of Overeaters Anonymous says she hasn't even
missed it, which is the real miracle.

Helen, 66, who asked that her real name not be used, is thin now, but she
remembers the old days.

She used to eat jelly beans and Snickers bars in bed until she passed out
from insulin shock. Her obsession with food consumed her.

"I just ate all the time, and if I wasn't eating I was thinking about how
to get more food," she said, her blue eyes mirroring the intensity of her
addiction. "I didn't go to a show to see a movie. I went to have license to
eat. I would even plan my binges. I would line food around my bed so I
could eat until I passed out."

Helen's symptoms are typical of a newly recognized disease called
binge-eating disorder, although she calls herself a compulsive overeater.

Her disease is one of three eating disorders -- anorexia nervosa and
bulimia nervosa are the others -- that are on the rise across the United
States, said Joel Yager, a University of New Mexico psychiatry professor
who specializes in eating disorders.

"There has been a definite rise in anorexia and bulimia every year since
the 1950s," Yager said. "That may have to do with society's preoccupation
with slimness, as fashion models and actresses have gotten slimmer on TV
and in magazines. That creates a lot of social peer pressure to be an
unhealthy low weight."

Binge-eating disorder -- which is diagnosed in about 70 percent of people
more than 100 pounds overweight -- is also rising across the United States
in women and men. It is part of the obesity epidemic, caused by underlying
mental disorders complicated by an overabundance of unhealthy food and poor
exercise habits, Yager said.

In Helen's case, binge-eating disorder left her susceptible to Type 2
diabetes and joint problems. She also had frequent memory loss after her
food binges, she said.

She bottomed out in 1983, as a nursing student in California. Her 5-foot-6
frame had swelled to 215 pounds, 85 more than her suggested ideal weight of
130.

The root of Helen's disease is very similar to anorexia nervosa and bulimia
nervosa, both of which are associated with unhealthy weight loss.

Anorexics starve themselves to be thin and face a host of health problems,
including bone loss, heart failure and death. Bulimics binge on food, but
then force themselves to vomit, creating health problems such as heart
failure, ulcers and malnutrition, Yager said.

ignoramus32087

I do not mind that I have not eaten any sweets in almost a year.

I am not missing that shit either.

Looks like Helen found what works so well! Which is to not put junk
food in the mouth.

i