Binge eating disorder in males: a population-based investigation

The authors investigated the prevalence of binge eating behavior in a general male Austrian population. A randomly selected sample of 1000 male adults aged 18 to 88 was interviewed by dieticians over the phone. Some screening instruments were used to detect binge eating behavior. The results showed a total prevalence of eating disorders of 14.9%. Eight subjects (0.8%) met the full diagnostic criteria for binge eating disorder (BED), 42 (4.2%) exhibited a partial binge eating syndrome, 94 (9.4%) an Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, and five subjects (0.5%) a bulimia nervosa. Most subjects with a eating disorder were overweight or obese, particularly those with a full BED syndrome. Our findings indicate that full BED syndromes are very rare in a nonclinical male sample, whereas partial syndromes are fairly common in males.