Pregnancy may increase risk.

• Position: Vulnerability to eating disorder during pregnancy - Brief article

Pregnancy may open a window of vulnerability for developing binge eating disorder, especially for women from lower socioeconomic situations, according to a study from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, researchers and colleagues in Norway. Previous clinical studies had suggested that eating disorders often go into remission during pregnancy, just as some pregnant women spontaneously quit smoking cigarettes.

"We need to be extremely vigilant across the socioeconomic spectrum to screen for the development of disordered eating during pregnancy. It's very important that all women receive adequate prenatal care that includes nutritional support," advises Cynthia M. Bulik, lead study author and professor of eating disorders.

Binge eating differs from the normal cravings that pregnant women often report, Bulik explains. People with binge eating disorder regularly consume large amounts of food in a set period of time and report feeling out-of-control during the episode. The disorder differs from bulimia nervosa in that sufferers do not engage in purging, such as using vomiting or...