Loss of control and binge eating in children and adolescents: Children and adolescents: Interventions

Full-syndrome binge eating disorder (BED) is rarely diagnosed among children and adolescents. Yet episodes of loss of control (LOC) eating are often reported by youth (Tanofsky-Kraff et al. 2004). As described more fully in the first part of this chapter, when children and adolescents report experiencing an inability to stop eating once started, the eating can be characterized as a LOC episode, which can occur irrespective of amount of food consumed. In other words, children experience LOC with or without consuming an unambiguously large amount of food, so including both large episodes of binge eating and not large episodes. Given the psychological (e.g. depressive symptoms), social (difficult relationships), and health (obesity) problems associated with LOC eating in youth (see the first part of this chapter), it is crucial for clinicians to assess for the presence of LOC eating and to implement interventions focused on reducing LOC eating and associated problems, such as excessive weight gain.