PERSISTENCE OF BINGE-EATING PATTERNS AFTER A HISTORY OF RESTRICTION WITH INTERMITTENT BOUTS OF REFEEDING ON PALATABLE FOOD IN RATS - IMPLICATIONS FOR BULIMIA-NERVOSA

Objective: To test the hypothesis that experience with food restrictio n produces persistent binge eating. The Minnesota semistarvation exper iment and studies of prisoners-of-war show that chronic food restricti on produces dramatic changes in eating behavior (including binge eatin g) that endure decades after restriction has ceased. Bulimia nervosa p atients who restrict also binge. Restriction may be a risk factor in t he etiology of binge eating and bulimia. Method: Animals were subjecte d to four different patterns of 12-week restriction-refeeding cycles. The rats were either food restricted (dieting) or not restricted and r efed regular or palatable food (binging). Results: Thirty days after n ormalization (full feeding, no restriction cycling), rats with a histo ry of cycles of restriction and hyperphagia continued to exhibit persi stent binge eating. This effect was shown particularly with palatable food, in sated conditions, and in response to acute 24-hr deprivation. Discussion: Results from this animal model implicate restriction and overeating on palatable food as biological determinants of binge-eatin g behaviors, including bulimia nervosa. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.