Depression and Percent Body Fat Are Associated With Binge Eating In A Community Sample of African American and Hispanic Women

BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity rates in non-Hispanic African American (AA) and Hispanic or Latina (HL) women are the highest of any ethnic and gender groups in the United States. Eighty two percent of AA women and 75% of HL women are overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) or obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) compared to 58% of nonHispanic white women. Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and binge eating may contribute to the difficulties in losing weight and maintaining weight loss. As BMI rises binge eating episodes become more severe. BED is the presence of binge eating episodes in the absence of compensatory behaviors. Some people who engage in binge eating but do not meet the criteria for BED are considered to have sub-clinical BED. Binge eating, as seen in those with BED and sub-clinical BED, is driven by factors other than physical hunger or metabolic need. A wealth of research demonstrates that those with BED experience more psychopathological symptoms such as depression, distress, perceived stress, anxiety and emotional problems compared to those without BED2. Studies on white, AA, and HL women have shown a consistently positive relationship among depressive symptoms and binge eating, and that depressive symptoms can predict binge eating. Women with eating disorders perceive their lives to be more stressful and to have a lower tolerance of stress than those without eating disorders. The correlations among eating disorder features have been shown to vary based on race/ethnicity3. Despite the alarming increases in overweight and obesity, the association of overweight/obesity with binge eating and BED, the differences in eating disorder features, and differences in psychological factors in AA and HL women when compared to samples of white women, relatively little is known about the relationships among these factors in minority women. In order to understand and address binge eating and BED, along with the associated overweight/obesity, in AA and HL women additional research is necessary.