Binge Eating Disorder 2019

Dear Colleagues,

The clinical significance of binge eating disorder (BED) has been established. Defined by recurrent binge eating (i.e. the consumption of an unambiguously large amount of food accompanied by loss of control over eating) in the absence of extreme weight compensatory behaviours (e.g. purging), BED is a formal eating disorder diagnosis in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

BED, traditionally considered as an adult disorder, occurs in adolescence with some epidemiological evidence highlighting BED as the most prevalent eating disorder in youth. Like BED in adults, this disorder in adolescence is associated with major forms of psychiatric comorbidity and impairment of health-related quality of life. Furthermore, appetite, nutritional and weight issues are an important part of the BED complexity. Indeed, BED is associated with significant morbidity, including medical complications related to excess body weight/mass index, and with significant metabolic abnormalities (a major public health issue).

As such, multidisciplinary approaches, combining medical, dietetic, nutritional and psychological interventions are generally recommended in the treatment of BED. Indeed, effective treatments for BED would ideally address binge eating, associated eating disorders (e.g. body image concerns) and comorbid (e.g. depressive) psychopathology, appetite, nutritional and weight issues and related metabolic dysfunctions.

Translational, population, nutritional and clinically-based research for a deeper understanding of the multifactorial determinants of BED (i.e. relevant behaviours and attitudes towards food, diet and nutrition and associated excess body weight and metabolic dysfunctions) is crucial in order to advance theory and inform policy and evidence-supported practice through the design and evaluation of innovative and complex intervention programmes aiming at enhancing outcomes.

Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to provide up to date information about the risk and maintenance factors of binge eating and BED. Areas of interest include findings from research capturing when, where and why people overeat and focusing on dietetic, nutritional and psychological interventions (dealing also with food issues and the triggers of binge-eating) and weight-management control, also considering implications for policy and practice.

Dr. Claudio Imperatori
Dr. Antonios Dakanalis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.