Disordered eating

Disordered eating describes a variety of abnormal eating behaviors that, by themselves, do not warrant diagnosis of an eating disorder.

Disordered eating includes behaviors that are common features of eating disorders, such as:

• Chronic restrained eating.^[1]
• Compulsive eating.^[1]
• Binge eating, with associated loss of control.
• Self-induced vomiting.^[2]

Disordered eating also includes behaviors that are not characteristic of any eating disorder, such as:

• Irregular, chaotic eating patterns.
• Ignoring physical feelings of hunger and satiety (fullness).^[1]
• Use of diet pills.^[3]
• Emotional eating.^[4]
• Night eating.^[4]
• "Secretive food concocting": the consumption of embarrassing food combinations, such as mashed potatoes mixed with sandwich cookies.^[5] See also Food craving § Pregnancy and Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder § Symptoms and behaviors.

Disordered eating can represent a change in eating patterns caused by other mental disorders (e.g. clinical depression), or by factors that are generally considered to be unrelated to mental disorders (e.g. extreme homesickness).

Certain factors among adolescents tend to be associated with disordered eating, including body mass index, negative affect (mood), self-esteem, perfectionism, drug use, perceived pressure to lose weight from parents and peers, and participation in sports that focus on leanness. These factors are similar among boys and girls alike.^[2]

Disordered eating among athletes, particularly female athletes, has been the subject of much research. In one study, women with disordered eating were 3.6 times as likely to have an eating disorder if they were athletes. Disordered eating, along with amenorrhea and bone demineralization, form what clinicians refer to as the female athletic triad, or FAT.^[6]

See also

• Night eating syndrome
• Overeaters Anonymous

References

1. "Definitions". nedic.ca. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
2. Ricciardelli, Lina A.; McCabe, Marita P. (March 2004). "A Biopsychosocial Model of Disordered Eating and the Pursuit of Muscularity in Adolescent Boys.". Psychological Bulletin 130 (2): 179–205. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.179.
3. Jones, Jennifer M.; Susan, Bennett; Olmsted, Marion P.; Lawson, Margaret L.; Rodin, Gary (September 4, 2001). "Disordered eating attitudes and behaviours in teenaged girls: a school-based study" (PDF). CMAJ 165 (5): 547–552. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
4. Quick, Virginia M.; Byrd-Bredbenner, Carol; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne (May 2013). "Chronic Illness and Disordered Eating: A Discussion of the Literature" (PDF). Advances in Nutrition 4 (3): 277–286. doi:10.3945/an.112.003608. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
5. Boggiano, MM; Turan, B; Maldonado, CR; Oswald, KD; Shuman, ES (April 2013). "Secretive food concocting in binge eating: test of a famine hypothesis". The International Journal of Eating Disorders 46 (3): 212–225. doi:10.1002/eat.22077. PMID 23255044. The article calls secretive food concocting a "chaotic eating habit". A lay summary is also available.
6. Morgado de Oliveira Coelho, Gabriela; Innocencio da Silva Gomes, Ainá; Gonçalves Ribeiro, Beatriz; de Abreu Soares, Eliane (May 12, 2014). "Prevention of eating disorders in female athletes". Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine 5: 105–113. doi:10.2147/OAJSM.S36528. PMC 4026548. PMID 24891817.