Pregnancy may increase risk

Pregnancy may open a window of vulnerability for developing binge eating disorder, especially for women from lower socioeconomic situations, according to a study from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, researchers and colleagues in Norway. Previous clinical studies had suggested that eating disorders often go into remission during pregnancy, just as some pregnant women spontaneously quit smoking cigarettes.

"We need to be extremely vigilant across the socioeconomic spectrum to screen for the development of disordered eating during pregnancy. It's very important that all women receive adequate prenatal care that includes nutritional support," advises Cynthia M. Bulik, lead study author and professor of eating disorders.

Binge eating differs from the normal cravings that pregnant women often report, Bulik explains. People with binge eating disorder regularly consume large amounts of food in a set period of time and report feeling out-of-control during the episode. The disorder differs from bulimia nervosa in that sufferers do not engage in purging, such as using vomiting or laxatives. In addition to contributing to weight gain and obesity, binge eating disorder is associated with health problems such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and chronic pain.

In the study, for women who already had the disorder, continuation of symptoms during pregnancy was more common than remission, the researchers found. New cases were more likely than other eating disorders to develop during pregnancy. Lower education and lower minimum combined income were associated with new onset cases. The researchers will follow the impact of eating disorders, especially binge eating, on the women and their children over time. They want to find out, for instance, if fluctuating nutrients during gestation have an impact on children's birth weight, development, and childhood and adolescent eating and weight patterns.

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