Features of binge eating:
(1) eating during a discrete period of time (usually a few hours) an amount of food that is larger than most people would eat in a similar period and under similar circumstances
(2) a sense of being out of control during the episode (unable to stop eating, what is being eaten and/or how much is being eaten)
where:
• The criteria are somewhat subjective and open to interpretation.
• Some understandable circumstances for overeating would include unintentional fasting/starvation or excessive physical exertion (once bulimia nervosa excluded).
• Many people may have an episode of binge eating once in a while. To be problematic it should be frequent, present for a prolonged period and/or moderate to severe in degree.
Once binge eating has been identified, the patient needs to be further classified:
(1) binge eating disorder
(2) bulimia nervosa
(3) night-eating syndrome
(4) Kleine-Levin syndrome
(5) Prader-Willi syndrome
(6) part of an obsessive-compulsive reaction
(7) lesion in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus
(8) acute encephalitis affecting the hypothalamus
(9) other causes
