Recurrent binge eating with and without the “undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation”: Implications for the diagnosis of binge eating disorder

Levels of eating disorder psychopathology, impairment in psycho-social functioning and use of health services were compared among probable cases of binge eating disorder (BED) with and without extreme weight or shape concerns (“undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation”) recruited from a large community sample of women. Data for obese non-binge eaters (n=457n=457), also recruited from the community sample, and for a clinical sample of eating disorder patients (n=128n=128), recruited separately, were included for comparative purposes. BED cases who reported extreme weight or shape concerns (n=51n=51, 46.4%) had significantly higher levels of eating disorder psychopathology and functional impairment than those who did not report such concerns (n=59n=59), after controlling for between-group differences in age and body weight. In addition, BED cases who reported extreme weight or shape concerns were more likely to have sought treatment for an eating or weight problem than those who did not. Whereas levels of eating disorder psychopathology and functional impairment were markedly elevated among BED cases with extreme weight or shape concerns, BED cases who did not report extreme weight or shape concerns resembled obese non-binge eaters in most respects. The findings support the inclusion of an undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation as a diagnostic criterion for BED. In the absence of this influence, eating disorders that otherwise resemble BED do not appear to be “clinically significant”.