Relationship between binge-eating episodes and self-perception of body weight in a nonclinical sample of five Brazilian cities.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between binge-eating episodes and a perception that body weight is above the ideal in a sample of customers interviewed at shopping malls in five Brazilian cities.
METHODS: In 1999, data were collected over the course of one week (Monday-Friday only) at the largest shopping malls in the cities of Porto Alegre, Salvador, Fortaleza, Goiânia and Curitiba (two malls per city). A total of 2855 participants (917 men and 1938 women) were interviewed. Weight and height measurements were standardized. Binge-eating episodes were identified using a questionnaire including the following questions based on DSM-IV diagnostic criteria: "Have you ever eaten, in a period of two hours or less, an amount of food greater than that most people would eat?" and "If the answer was "yes", did you, during these episodes, feel unable to stop eating or to control how much you were eating?".
RESULTS: The prevalence of binge-eating episodes was higher among overweight subjects (15.6%) compared with normal-weight subjects (9.9%) (p = 0.0001) and, among subjects who perceived their body weight to be above the ideal (men: 13.9%; women: 15.1%) compared with those who perceived their body weight to be ideal or below the ideal (men: 8%; women: 7%) (p < 0.0001). In the multivariate analysis adjusted for body mass index and demographic variables, binge-eating episodes were correlated with the perception that body weight is above the ideal only among women (OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2-2.5).
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the perception that body weight is above the ideal, regardless of overweight status, is associated with binge-eating episodes in women.