title: Establishing thresholds for unusually large binge eating episodes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined group differences in ratings of amounts of food at the threshold of what is considered "unusually large" to develop empirically derived definitions of binge eating criteria for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Groups included undergraduate students, community members, and participants from an eating disorder (ED) longitudinal study. Data were collected via self-report questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ordinal logistic regression indicated that males reported a higher threshold for amounts of food compared to females. Overweight participants from the student and ED samples, but not from the community sample, reported higher thresholds. The presence of binge eating and fear of weight gain were also associated with higher thresholds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide evidence that gender, social context, BMI, and eating disorder status are important considerations in determining what is an unusually large amount of food. Future diagnostic guidelines should consider the importance of these factors when defining binge eating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. ariki002@umn.edu
authors.forename: Aimee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arikian
authors.forename: Carol B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Sonja A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Kelly C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chartier
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Durkin
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Crow
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology*