January 2026
Elsevier
Jerica M. Berge, PhD, MPH, LMFT, CFLE, Director of the Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS) and Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz, is a co-author of an article published in Elsevier’s journal Appetite titled “‘Fulfilling the Hunger’: A Qualitative Study to Understand the Etiology of Binge Eating in Adolescents Experiencing Food Insecurity."This study recruited adolescents ages 12 to 19 and identified six key themes: overlapping concerns about body image and access to food; both self-imposed and outside restrictions on eating—especially of preferred foods; moments when teens had access to those foods; efforts to satisfy immediate or anticipated hunger; using food for comfort when coping with stress or negative emotions; and feelings of emotional, social, or physical discomfort after binge eating.
From the article:
“Food-insecure populations experience increased risk for binge eating. This study examined how food insecurity contributes to development of binge eating during adolescence—a key period for its onset—alongside broader contributing factors in this life stage.
Results suggest binge eating in adolescents experiencing food insecurity is explained not only by factors known to contribute to binge eating in the general population (e.g., weight/shape concern-driven dietary restraint, negative mood), but also an instinct to seize opportunities to eat desirable foods when such opportunities are hard to come by. It may be important for binge-eating interventions in populations with food insecurity to increase food access and simultaneously acknowledge that binge eating may serve an adaptive function in the context of food insecurity but often has negative repercussions.”
Read more of this article.