Furthermore, binge eating affects many, not only themselves. Usually children that have been exposed to verbal abuse, sexual abuse, or have been rewarded by food may develop this eating disorder later in life (Segal and Smith). Typically, what an individual goes through in their childhood affects their adulthood. Such as, being bullied or being raped can cause traumatic damage to one's mentality. Children that have parents that use food as a reward system have a likelier chance to develop binge eating in the future. A study even showed that binge eating occurs in almost 1 in 35 adults in the United States (Bulik 9). Also, 50% of people who have binge eating are either depressed or have been previously (Judd 33). Depression and overindulging goes hand in hand because when people are upset they typically eat. So, as the individual eats more, he or she gets more upset from noticing their weight gain. Another study showed that binge eating usually happens during adolescence and gives the risk of future mental and physical disorders ("Binge Eating Can Have ").
In addition to who binge eating affects, there are reasons why they are the ones affected. This usually happens from repeating this eating habit over a span of many months or years (Bulik 3). This could be from how the individual was raised at home or a traumatic event that occurred to trigger the continuous indulgence of food. Also, binge eating may occur when the individual skips meals or has an irregular eating habit. This would set the individual up "psychologically and biologically for a binge " (Bulik 22). That is why starving one's self isn't helping them. He or she may try to diet or eat normal meals but the sudden restriction or food triggers a binge and it becomes a cycle ("Binge Eating Symptoms "). The body is going to continue to crave food. Since it's a learned habit, the body doesn't understand what's happening. That is why learning to eat healthy sized meals at a young age is important.
