Women With Apple Shaped Bodies More Prone to Binge Eating

Women with apple-shaped bodies – those who store more of their fat in their trunk and abdominal regions – may be at particular risk for the development of eating episodes during which they experience a sense of “loss of control,” according to a new study from Drexel University. The study also found that women with greater fat stores in their midsections reported being less satisfied with their bodies, which may contribute to loss-of-control eating.

This study marks the first investigation of the connections between fat distribution, body image disturbance and the development of disordered eating.

“Eating disorders that are detected early are much more likely to be successfully treated. Although existing eating disorder risk models comprehensively address psychological factors, we know of very few biologically-based factors that help us predict who may be more likely to develop eating disorder behaviors,” said lead author Laura Berner, PhD, who completed the research while pursuing a doctoral degree at Drexel.

“Our preliminary findings reveal that centralized fat distribution may be an important risk factor for the development of eating disturbance, specifically for loss-of-control eating,” said Berner. “This suggests that targeting individuals who store more of their fat in the midsection and adapting psychological interventions to focus specifically on body fat distribution could be beneficial for preventing eating disorders.”

The study, titled “Examination of Central Body Fat Deposition as a Risk Factor for Loss-of-Control Eating,” was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Berner is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research at UC San Diego Health. Michael R. Lowe, PhD, a professor in Drexel’s College of Arts and Sciences, was a co-author, along with Danielle Arigo, PhD, who was a postdoctoral research fellow at Drexel and is now an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Scranton; Laurel Mayer, MD, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute,; and David B. Sarwer, PhD, professor of psychology in Psychiatry and Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania as well as director of clinical services at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders.

Mounting evidence suggests that experiencing a sense of loss-of-control during eating – feeling driven or compelled to keep eating or that stopping once one has started is difficult – is the most significant element of binge-eating episodes regardless of how much food is consumed, according to the researchers.

Drawings of women's bodies. One has an apple overlaided and the other a pear.
This study marks the first investigation of the connections between fat distribution, body image disturbance and the development of disordered eating. Image is adapted from the Drexel University press release.

“This sense of loss of control is experienced across a range of eating disorder diagnoses: bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and the binge-eating/purging subtype of anorexia nervosa,” said Berner. “We wanted to see if a measurable biological characteristic could help predict who goes on to develop this feeling, as research shows that individuals who feel this sense of loss of control over eating but don’t yet have an eating disorder are more likely to develop one.”

Using a large dataset that followed female college freshman for two years, the researchers preliminarily investigated whether body fat distribution is linked to body dissatisfaction over time and increases risk for the development or worsening of loss-of-control eating.

The nearly 300 young adult women completed assessments at baseline, six months and 24 months, that looked at height, weight and total body fat percentage and where it’s distributed. Participants, none of whom met the diagnostic criteria for eating disorders at the start of the study, were assessed for disordered eating behaviors through standardized clinical interviews in which experiences of sense of loss of control were self-reported.

In this sample, the researchers found that women with greater central fat stores, independent of total body mass and depression levels, were more likely to develop loss-of-control eating and demonstrated steadier increases in loss-of-control eating episode frequency over time. Women with a larger percentage of their body fat stored in the trunk region were also less satisfied with their bodies, regardless of their total weight or depression level.

The findings indicate that storage of body fat in trunk and abdominal regions, rather than elsewhere in the body, is more strongly predictive of loss-of-control eating development and worsening over time, and that larger percentages of fat stored in these central regions and body dissatisfaction may serve as maintenance or exacerbation for loss-of-control eating.

“Our results suggest that centralized fat deposition increased disordered eating risk above and beyond other known risk factors,” said Berner. “The specificity of our findings to centralized fat deposition was also surprising. For example, a one-unit increase in the percentage of body fat stored in the abdominal region was associated with a 53 percent increase in the risk of developing loss-of-control eating over the next two years, whereas total percentage body fat did not predict loss-of-control eating development.”

According to Berner, more research is needed to explain the mechanism behind these findings, though she speculates that there are a number of reasons why this might happen.

“It’s possible that this kind of fat distribution is not only psychologically distressing, but biologically influential through, for example, alterations in hunger and satiety signaling,” she said. “Fat cells release signals to the brain that influence how hungry or satiated we feel. Our study didn’t include hormone assays, so we can’t know for sure, but in theory it’s possible that if a centralized distribution of fat alters the hunger and satiety messages it sends, it could make a person feel out of control while eating.”

The findings may apply to other disordered eating behaviors beyond loss-of-control eating, but more research is needed. “Body fat distribution hasn’t been studied in disorders characterized by binge-eating behaviors as much as it has in anorexia nervosa,” said Berner. “The participants in our sample didn’t develop eating disorder diagnoses within the two year period that we studied them, but this study suggests that future research should investigate whether individuals with greater central fat stores are more likely to develop bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.”

About this neuroscience research

Source: Alex McKechnie – Drexel University
Image Credit: The image is adapted from the Drexel University press release
Original Research: Abstract for “Examination of Central Body Fat Deposition as a Risk Factor for Loss-of-Control Eating” by Laura A Berner, Danielle Arigo, Laurel ES Mayer, David B Sarwer, and Michael R Lowe in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Published online September 9 2015 doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.107128


Abstract

Examination of Central Body Fat Deposition as a Risk Factor for Loss-of-Control Eating

Background: Elevated body mass index (BMI), higher waist-to-hip ratio, and body dissatisfaction have been investigated as risk factors for the development of bulimic symptoms. Central fat deposition may be particularly relevant to eating disorders. To our knowledge, the longitudinal relations between fat distribution, body dissatisfaction, and loss-of-control (LOC) eating development and maintenance have not been studied.

Objective: We examined body fat distribution, independent of BMI and depressive symptoms, as a unique correlate and predictor of body dissatisfaction and LOC eating cross-sectionally and over a 2-y follow-up.

Design: Body composition was measured by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 294 adult women at risk of weight gain at baseline, 6 mo, and 24 mo. We assessed LOC eating, body dissatisfaction, and depressive symptoms at baseline, 6 wk, 6 mo, 12 mo, and 24 mo by using the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Interview, the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire–Appearance Scales Body Areas Satisfaction subscale, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale, respectively.

Results: Independent of BMI, baseline total percentage body fat, percentage trunk fat, and percentage abdominal fat were related to greater body dissatisfaction. Total percentage body fat and trunk fat tended to be associated with greater body dissatisfaction at all subsequent time points. Women with a greater percentage trunk fat, specifically abdominal fat, were at highest risk of developing LOC eating. In the full sample, women with higher baseline percentage trunk and abdominal fat showed increases in LOC eating episode frequency over time, whereas LOC eating frequency remained stable among women with smaller percentages of fat in trunk and abdominal regions.

Conclusion: These findings lend further support to the premise that increased central body fat deposition is associated with body image dissatisfaction and suggest that it may represent a risk and maintenance factor for LOC eating. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00456131.

“Examination of Central Body Fat Deposition as a Risk Factor for Loss-of-Control Eating” by Laura A Berner, Danielle Arigo, Laurel ES Mayer, David B Sarwer, and Michael R Lowe in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Published online September 9 2015 doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.107128

Feel free to share this neuroscience news.
Join our Newsletter
I agree to have my personal information transferred to AWeber for Neuroscience Newsletter ( more information )
Sign up to receive our recent neuroscience headlines and summaries sent to your email once a day, totally free.
We hate spam and only use your email to contact you about newsletters. You can cancel your subscription any time.