Binge eating in overweight users of primary health care: prevalence and associated factors

Abstract Objective This study aimed to verify the prevalence of binge eating and associated factors among overweight users of the primary health care. Method This is a cross-sectional study including 360 overweight adults, both sexes, who attended five different health care centers covered by one Family Health Care Center in the city of Curitiba/Paraná. We used the Binge Eating Scale along with a questionnaire containing demographic, socioeconomic and health-related behavior, in addition to anthropometric measurements. The prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were estimated through Poisson Regression. Results The outcome was identified in 41.6% of the sample. Crude analysis revealed higher prevalence of the binge eating among women, unemployed individuals, with obesity and increased waist circumference. After adjusted analysis, only the gender remained significantly associated with the outcome (PR = 2.43; 95%CI 1.33-4.44). Conclusion In conclusion, we observed elevated prevalence of binge eating specially among women. There was no association between binge eating and the socioeconomic, health-related behavior and anthropometric variables.