Binge Eating Disorder is a new entity and the term was coined in 1992 to describe individuals who binge eat but do not regularly use inappropriate compensatory weight control behaviors such as fasting or purging to lose weight. A binge is defined as eating a large amount of food (given the situation) in a short period of time (typically within two hours) and feeling out of control (i.e., can not stop eating). In addition, the binge eating may involve eating quickly, eating until feeling uncomfortably full, eating a large amount when not hungry, and feeling shame or embarrassment after the eating occurred.

Binge eating disorder is often associated with obesity; approximately 20% of the people who seek professional treatment for obesity meet the criteria for binge eating disorder. In the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM- IV-TR), binge eating disorder is not an officially recognized eating disorder, but is included in the category titled Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS). Often people classify binge eating as compulsive eating or emotional eating.