Overweight and obesity in eating disorders

Backgrounds: Overweight and obesity related to some eating disorders (ED) may influence in the prognostic. The aim was to analyze the prevalence of overweight and obesity in ED, and the dietetic factors which are related to weight gain. Moreover to give some dietetic rules for those patients. Methods: A total of 1005 medical histories were analyzed, and a sample of 192 patients with a BMI >= 25 kg/m(2) was collected. Their clinical data, anthropometric measures, and dietetic data during the period of treatment were analyzed. Results: A BMI >= 25 was related to bulimia nervosa (BN) (33.33%) and overeating disorder (OD) (58.85%). The highest BMI was associated with the type of ED (p<0.01), taking snacks (p<0.001), the intake of <= 3 meals/day (p<0.05), and the absence of regular exercise (p<0.05). Comparing with OD, patients with BN have less snacks (51.56%), they don't eat bread with their meals (67.56%), they use to eat only one plate of food (70.27%) in their main meals, and they don't practice exercise (70.56%). Conclusions: The dietetic treatment in ED is necessary, especially in cases with overweight/obesity associated. Healthy habits should be promoted not only giving information, but trying to change behaviors into more healthy eating habits. (C) 2010 SENC. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.