The prevalence of abnormal eating behaviour in a representative sample of the French diabetic population

Abstract

Aim To assess the relationship between abnormal eating behaviour (AEB) and diabetes in a sample of French adult patients with type 1 (T1D) and type 2 (T2D) diabetes. Methods Ninety-four consecutively recruited patients self-completed a series of validated questionnaires. Results Over one-fourth of men with T1D (26%) or T2D (27%) and 11% of female T2D patients reported consistent and pathological overeating or binge-eating during the previous six months. Glycaemic control in these T1D patients was poorer than in T1D patients defined as normal eaters (NORM) (11.9% versus 9.6%), but did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.08), and no significant difference was observed in the T2D group ( P = 0.61) either. T2D patients reported being markedly more restrained when eating than did the T1D patients ( P = 0.002), and their restraint increased along with their BMI ( P < 0.001). Patients who overate or binged also reported greater general hunger ( P = 0.02) and disinhibition ( P = 0.003) than did the NORM patients. Conclusion AEB is present in French diabetic patients at levels that are probably higher than among the general population. These results highlight the need for: (1) greater awareness among diabetes clinicians of the problem; (2) regular screening of diabetic patients for AEB; and (3) adaptation of therapeutic and dietary recommendations for this patient subgroup.