[Binge Eating Disorder: Prevalence, Associated Factors and Obesity in University Students]

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a disorder of eating behavior that can affect people of all ages.

To determine the prevalence of BED according to criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V, associated factors and their relationship to obesity in university students at Barquisimeto (Venezuela), between September 2013 and February 2014.

A study was conducted on a sample of 497 university students of both sexes (371 females), between 18 and 28 years old. A questionnaire was applied and anthropometric measurements were recorder: Weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (CW) and waist-height ratio (WHR).

The prevalence of BED was 3.20%. Factors associated with BED were body image dissatisfaction, family dysfunction, and depressive symptoms. BED was significantly associated with global obesity and central obesity.

Changes in diagnostic criteria of BED, introduced in DSM-V, do not appear to increase the prevalence of BED. Important psychosocial factors associated with BED were identified. BED was strongly associated with global and central obesity. Further studies need to be carried out, withmore rigorous designs to elucidate the effects of the new definition by DSM-V, and to determine the causal nature of the associations found.