Study Links Teen Overeating, Binge Eating to Drug Use

As a nutritionist, a new study could influence how you warn parents about the dangers of poor eating habits in their adolescents and teens. The study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine concluded that overeating and binge eating are symptomatic of a loss of self control, which may ultimately lead to drug use.
 

The Growing Up Today Study conducted at Boston Children’s Hospital evaluated the eating habits of 16,882 boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 15. The nine-year study sought to determine a link between overeating or binge eating and obesity, depression, binge drinking, and drug use.
 

During the study, as many as one percent of boys and three percent of girls said they regularly engaged in binge eating. The results were just the opposite for participants who overate, with three percent of boys and one percent of girls engaging in this practice. Alarmingly, as many as 41 percent of youths started using marijuana and 32 percent used other illicit drugs. Those who overate were 2.7 times more likely to start using marijuana or other drugs, while binge eaters were 1.9 times more likely to try drugs.
 

The study was based on a questionnaire issued annually from 1996 to 2001 and then every 2 years through 2007. Participants were asked how often they had consumed a large meal and if they felt out of control while they were overeating. The term overeating was defined as "at least weekly" episodes of consuming large amounts of food without loss of control, while binge eating was defined as weekly overeating with loss of control.
 

"In summary, we found that binge eating, but not overeating, predicted the onset of overweight/obesity and worsening depressive symptoms," noted lead author Kendrin Sonneville, a clinical nutrition specialist with Boston Children's Hospital. “It’s understandable about the connection with depressive states because binge eating carries a kind of stigma that could cause those children who binge eat to be depressed,” she added.
 

In terms of overeating, doctors noted a strong link to teens and the use of such entry drugs as marijuana. Though neither binge eating nor overeating were connected to binge drinking.
 

“These findings from this investigation and previous research suggest that lack of control is an important indicator of severity of overeating episodes," Sonneville says. "Why it’s connected to possible drug use, we don’t understand yet. However, given that binge eating is uniquely predictive of some adverse outcomes and because previous work has found that binge eating can be treated by intervention, clinicians should be encouraged to screen adolescents for binge eating."
 

While there may be exceptions, the Growing Up Study does raise an awareness of the connection between poor nutritional habits and the propensity among teens and adolescents to experiment with illicit drugs. As a nutritionist, it would be wise to alert parents to note these and other loss of control behaviors among their adolescents and teens.
 

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