Food consumption in patients referred for bariatric surgery with and without binge eating disorder

The prevalence of Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is high in obese patients referred to bariatric surgery. Although the total energy intake is increased, the risk of nutritional deficiencies in these patients is unknown. This study proposes to evaluate and compare the intakes of candidate patients for bariatric surgery with and without BED, using for this purpose the Dietary Reference Intakes.

116 patients referred for bariatric surgery were submitted to nutritional, laboratory and psychological assessments.

Among the patients, 46.6% had BED, of these, 25.9% had the severe form. The patients with current depression (31.9%) were more compulsive than those without depression (p < 0.001). The mean age was significantly higher in patients without BED (46.94 ± 12.05 vs 42.32 ± 10.60, p = 0.030). The only difference in anthropometric parameters individuals with and without BED was the mid-upper arm circumference (P = 0.047). The percentage of energy from carbohydrates was higher in patients with BED (53.78%) than without BED (48.88%) (U = 1222, P = 0.018, r = − 0.22). The percentage from total fat (13.63% versus 12.89%, U = 1201.0, P = 0.019, r = − 0.22) and from saturated fat (9.04% versus 8.15%, U = 1074.0, P = 0.023, r = − 0.21), was higher in patients without BED. When adjusted for the body weight of patients, these differences were not significant.

Patients with BED eat more carbohydrates and have larger mid-upper arm circumference in the face of similar body weight, suggesting a higher percentage of fat mass.