Objective: The goal of this study was to examine the clinical utility of nibbling behavior, defined as eating in an unplanned and repetitious manner between meals and snacks without a sense of loss of control, in obese patients with Binge Eating Disorder (BED).
Methods: Two-hundred seventeen (N = 217) consecutive, treatment-seeking, obese patients with BED were assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE). Nibbling frequency was examined in relation to current weight, eating disorder psychopathology and eating patterns.
Results: Results found that nibbling/picking was not related to body mass index, objective bulimic, subjective bulimic, or overeating episodes, food avoidance, sensitivity to weight gain, or any subscales of the EDE. However, nibbling/picking was significantly related to frequency of morning and afternoon snacking (r = .21, p = .002; r = .27, p < .001).
Discussion: The assessment of nibbling/picking behaviors among individuals with BED might not provide clinically significant information.
Keywords: Binge eating disorder; Eating behaviors; Nibbling; Picking.
© 2013.