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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Oct 27;28(1):89.
doi: 10.1007/s40519-023-01613-9.

Is binge eating associated with poor weight loss outcomes in people with a high body weight? A systematic review with meta-analyses

Isabella Lobo #  1 , Felipe Q da Luz #  1 , Phillipa Hay  2 , Tamiris L Gaeta  1 , Paula Costa Teixeira  1 , Táki Athanássios Cordás  1 , Amanda Sainsbury  3 , Zubeyir Salis  4   5   6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Is binge eating associated with poor weight loss outcomes in people with a high body weight? A systematic review with meta-analyses

Isabella Lobo et al. Eat Weight Disord. .

Abstract

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to compare the weight change in people with or without binge eating who underwent various weight loss treatments.

Methods: We searched for studies in PubMed, American Psychological Association, and Embase from inception to January 2022. The studies selected included assessment of binge eating and body weight before and after weight loss treatment in people of any age. The meta-analyses were conducted using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA). We used Egger's regression test, the funnel plot, and the Trim and Fill test to assess the risk of publication bias.

Results: Thirty-four studies were included in the systematic review, with a total of 10.184 participants. The included studies were divided into three categories according to types of weight loss treatments, namely, (1) bariatric surgery; (2) pharmacotherapy isolated or combined with behavioral interventions; and (3) behavioral and/or nutritional interventions. The meta-analyses showed no significant difference in weight loss between people with or without binge eating engaged in weight loss treatments, with an overall effect size of - 0.117 (95% CI - 0.405 to 0.171; P = 0.426).

Conclusions: Our findings showed no difference in weight loss in people with or without pre-treatment binge eating who received various weight loss treatments. Weight loss treatments should not be withheld on the basis that they will not be effective in people with pre-treatment binge eating, albeit their safety and longer term impacts are unclear.

Level of evidence: Level I, at least one properly designed randomized controlled trials; systematic reviews and meta-analyses; experimental studies.

Keywords: Binge eating; Meta-analysis; Obesity; Systematic review; Weight loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

Amanda Sainsbury and Zubeyir Salis own 50% each of the shares in Zuman International, a company that receives royalties and other payments for educational resources and services about adult weight management and research methodology. Amanda Sainsbury has also received presentation fees and travel reimbursements from Eli Lilly and Co, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Novo Nordisk, the Dietitians Association of Australia, Shoalhaven Family Medical Centres, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, and Metagenics, and served on the Nestlé Health Science Optifast VLCD advisory board from 2016 to 2018. Phillipa Hay receives/has received sessional fees and lecture fees from the Australian Medical Council, Therapeutic Guidelines publication, and HETI New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry and royalties/honoraria from Hogrefe and Huber, McGraw Hill Education, and Blackwell Scientific Publications, Biomed Central and PlosMedicine and she has received research grants from the NHMRC and ARC. She is Chair of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration Steering Committee in Australia and was a Member of the ICD-11 Working Group for Eating Disorders (2012–2019), and was Chair Clinical Practice Guidelines Project Working Group (Eating Disorders) of RANZCP (2012–2015). She has prepared a report under contract for Shire Pharmaceuticals regarding Binge Eating Disorder (July 2017) and consulting fees for the education of doctors from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. All views in this paper are her own. Author A and B declare they have no financial interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of the systematic review search. We excluded from the meta-analyses studies that (1) did not report sample sizes in the pre-treatment phase and at the last assessment; (2) did not report SD or standard error (SE) or did not specify whether data were reported in SD or SE; and (3) studies that did not provide data that enabled the calculation of the SD of the change in body weight from pre-treatment to the end of treatment or last follow-up assessment
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of true effects
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot by intervention subgroup and general. The first diamond (from the top-down) refers to behavioral and/or nutritional interventions, the second diamond refers to pharmacotherapy isolated or combined with behavior interventions, and the third diamond refers to weight loss surgery. The last diamond refers to all treatments combined
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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