Binge eating disorder the USA, BED is present in 0.8% of male adults and 1.6% of female adults in a given year. Additionally, 30 to 40 percent of individuals seeking treatment for weight-loss can be diagnosed with binge eating disorder. The disorder was first described in 1959 by psychiatrist and researcher Albert Stunkard as "night eating syndrome" (NES). The term "binge eating" was coined to describe the same binging-type eating behavior but without the exclusive nocturnal component. There is generally less research on binge eating disorder in comparison to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Binge eating disorder Binge eating disorder (BED) is an
Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder specialists have examined them to try to determine the differences. Dr. J. Winkelman noted several features of the two disorders that were similar, but he gave one important factor that make these disorders different. In his article "Sleep-Related Eating Disorder and Night Eating Syndrome: Sleep Disorders, Eating Disorders, Or both", Winkelman said, "Both [disorders] involve nearly nightly binging at multiple nocturnal awakenings, defined as excess calorie intake or loss of control over consumption." He also reported that both disorders have a common occurrence of approximately one to five percent of adults, have been predominantly found in women, with a young