Behavioral weight loss outcomes in individuals with binge‐eating disorder: A meta‐analysis

Abstract Objective Binge‐eating disorder (BED) is highly comorbid with obesity. Weight loss may benefit individuals with BED; however, these individuals are often excluded from behavioral weight loss interventions (BWLIs), and findings from BWLIs including participants with and without BED are mixed. To the authors' knowledge, this study represents the first meta‐analysis of weight loss outcomes of individuals with and without BED in BWLIs, while adjusting for weight‐influencing variables. Treatment dropout rates were also examined. Methods Electronic search engines and grey literature search methods were used to identify manuscripts published through December 2022 related to BWLIs and BED. Thirty manuscripts (BED n = 1519; 25 non‐BED n = 6345) were included. Results A meta‐regression found that individuals with BED lost less weight compared with individuals without BED (~1.4 kg; ~2.9 kg among studies without meal replacements), but they still lost ~8.1 kg at post‐treatment. A random‐effects model showed that BED diagnosis increased odds of treatment dropout by 50%. Conclusions BWLIs produced robust weight loss in those with BED, but those with BED lost less weight and had higher risk of dropout compared with those without. Future research should aim to close the gap in weight loss outcomes and retention between those with and without BED.