Introduction Binge eating disorder is defined as eating an amount of food in a discrete period of time (e.g., two hours) that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period under similar circumstances. These episodes occur, on average, at least once a week for three months. Episodes of binge eating are associated with a lack of control and with distress over the eating. BED often present alongside other psychiatric conditions. A study of disordered eating behaviors among adolescents found that disordered eating behaviors and depressive symptoms developed concurrently. Anxiety has been noted as a risk factor for disordered eating patterns, including binge eating, due to its frequent onset prior to maladaptive eating behaviors. Early models of EDs have argued that low self-esteem is involved in the etiology of eating pathologies.
In a recent study, binge-eating symptomatology was found to be associated with a lower level of self-esteem.