Background: Binge-eating disorder may represent a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome. Objective: The objective was to assess longitudinally the relation between binge-eating disorder and components of the metabolic syndrome. Design: At 2.5 and 5 y of follow-up, 134 individuals with binge-eating disorder and 134 individuals with no history of eating disorders, who were frequency-matched for age, sex, and baseline body mass index (BMI), were interviewed during the follow-up interval regarding new diagnoses of 3 metabolic syndrome components: hypertension, dyslipidemia, and type 2 diabetes. Results: A comparison of individuals with and without a binge-eating disorder in analyses adjusted for age, sex, baseline BMI, and interval BMI change had hazard ratios (95% CIs) for reporting new diagnoses of metabolic syndrome components of 2.2 (1.2, 4.2; P = 0.023) for dyslipidemia, 1.5 (0.76, 2.9; P = 0.33) for hypertension, 1.6 (0.77, 3.9; P = 0.29) for type 2 diabetes, 1.7 (1.1, 2.6; P = 0.023) for any component, and 2.4 (1.1, 5.7; P = 0.038) for ≥2 components. Conclusion: Binge-eating disorder may confer a risk of components of the metabolic syndrome over and above the risk attributable to obesity alone. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00777634.

Longitudinal study of the diagnosis of components of the metabolic syndrome in individuals with binge-eating disorder