Dr. Gupta is a licensed psychologist and professor at Barnard College, Columbia University. She specializes in the treatment of anxiety and eating/weight issues at 
Cognitive behavioral therapy reduces binge eating in teens and adults
May 4, 2012
People struggling with binge eating often have a complicated relationship with food throughout their life. They may begin dieting or overeating as a teen and experiences ups and downs in emotional eating for years to follow. Two new research studies that were released online last week show that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) can help both teens and adults to improve their eating.
The first study, conducted in Belgium, offered CBT in an intensive group format to about fifty adults with binge eating disorder. After an average of 29 weeks of therapy, most people lost weight and reduced their binge eating. Moreover, they maintained weight loss and reduced binge eating even 3.5 years after ending therapy. While the focus of therapy is usually improving eating patterns (vs meeting a weight loss goal), the participants in this study were encouraged to practice being more active which probably contributed to their weight loss.
While it’s always helpful to improve eating habits at any stage in life, another study tried to help prevent eating problems in adulthood by treating them at a younger age. Researchers from across the United States came together to investigate how CBT can help teenage girls reduce their binge eating. They found that the girls who participated in CBT (6-10 individual sessions) were more likely to abstain from binge eating when compared to a similar group of girls who had to wait for therapy. In fact, none of the teens who initially received CBT reported binge eating 6 months after beginning treatment.
However, the researchers in the teenage study had only a small sample of only 26 girls. They described great difficulty in getting more research participants and attributed this, in part, to teens not recognizing that their binge eating is a problem.
Research studies have identified CBT as a powerful treatment for binge eating. While it would be ideal to offer CBT to people suffering from binge eating while they are still teens, it may be challenging to get both the teens and parents on board with the idea. And no matter the age, it’s also challenging to find a therapist who actually practices CBT for binge eating.
Photo credit: lasmith
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