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What is this thing called BED? Current status of binge eating disorder nosology
Michael J Devlin1, Juli A Goldfein, Ilyse Dobrow
1Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA. mjd5@columbia.edu
Objective:
Although binge eating has been recognized as a clinically relevant behavior among the obese for more than four decades, the concept of binge eating disorder (BED) as a distinct psychiatric diagnosis is of much more recent origin. This article presents four ways of conceptualizing BED: a distinct disorder in its own right, as a variant of bulimia nervosa, as a useful behavioral subtype of obesity, and as a behavior that reflects psychopathology among the obese. It also summarizes the evidence supporting and disconfirming each model.
Method:
The literature subsequent to the development of DSM-IV regarding the reliability and validity of BED and related conditions was reviewed selectively.
Results:
The preponderance of the evidence suggests that BED differs importantly from purging bulimia nervosa and that BED is not a strikingly useful behavioral subtype of obesity.
Discussion:
Further study is needed to definitively determine the validity of BED as a distinct eating disorder.