Why is compulsive eating and obesity often overlooked in the literature on Eating Disorders?
Compulsive eating and obesity are serious eating disorders that are caused by psychological conflicts just like Anorexia and Bulimia. The individual turns to food to cope with, as well as to escape from, difficult feelings and uncomfortable situations or relationships. Medical complications like diabetes, hypertension, edema and reproductive problems are linked to excessive weight gain. It can be difficult for someone with graze eating or binge eating to acknowledge the problem and to ask for help. In a society where overeating and excess weight is equated with negative characteristics, such as lack of self-control and laziness, it becomes easy to understand the shame associated with admitting these problems. Typically, the person will exhaust many fad diets and weight loss programs before seeking out an eating disorder approach to treatment. Obesity and being overweight, however, may also be a result of a medical condition that is unrelated to an eating disorder.
