BING EATING, OBESITY AND WEIGHT LOSS

Bing eating, obesity weight loss Obesity's rapid rate of growth in the world makes it a major risk factor in this millennium. Between 1980 and 2008 its prevalence has doubled and according to the Latin American Consensus it is directly or indirectly responsible for two hundred thousand deaths each year. High investments in research have enabled science to discover numerous metabolic, genetic and neurological processes, associated with obesity. However, a solution to this public health problem, that affects half a billion people worldwide, still does not exist. Most obese patients seeking treatment have psychiatric disorders, mainly depression and anxiety. There is also a subpopulation of obese patients suffering from eating disorders, such as, Binge Eating Disorder (BED). These co-morbidities may adversely affect the management and conduct of treatment. The aim of this study was to review several publications that relate obesity, binge eating (BE) and BED, highlighting aspects of their prevalence, etiology, and the results obtained from different treatment proposals. This review was compiled from a variety of databases, articles, periodicals and specialized books. The results show that BE and BED have a high prevalence in obese and overweight patients, that there is high co-morbidity of obesity and psychiatric disorders, and that this impairs the results of weight loss treatments.