Binge Eating Disorder (BED) shares a common thread with all eating disorders - severe disturbances in eating behavior. People who have been diagnosed with BED have frequent episodes of compulsive overeating two days a week on average, and have had these episodes for at least six months. An episode is characterized by eating large amounts of food within a two-hour period and feeling that you cannot stop eating. 

Binge eating disorder is probably the most common eating disorder. According to the National Institute of Eating Disorders, BED affects between two and five percent of Americans, with men making up a large percentage of that number. This disorder has similar characteristics to non-purging bulimia and is also referred to as compulsive eating disorder.

Most people with this problem are either overweight or obese, but normal-weight people also can have the disorder. About ten to fifteen percent of people who are mildly obese and who try to lose weight on their own or through commercial weight-loss programs have binge eating disorder. The disorder is even more common in people who are severely obese.

People with binge eating disorder frequently eat large amounts of food and feel a loss of control over their eating, as well as guilt after eating. However, eating too much does not mean you are a binge eater – most people occasionally overeat and then feel bad about it, or eat too much even when they’re not hungry. Neither does the rare “binge” on junk food (or any food) necessarily imply a disorder – most people respond to an urge to overindulge now and again.

People also often mistakenly describe binge eating as a form of bulimia, but the two disorders are different. Although people with bulimia often binge eat, they usually purge, fast, or exercise strenuously after an episode of binge eating. People with binge eating disorder don't necessarily do this.