Jana has just polished off a whole package of cookies and a large bag of chips - and she hasn't even finished her homework yet. She's searching around for more chips to eat while she does her math. She hates that she's overweight, but she just can't seem to stop bingeing on junk food. Somehow, the food seems to ease her tension. If you gorged yourself on chocolate during Halloween or ate so much of your grandma's pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving that you had to wear elastic-waist pants for the rest of the day, you know what it feels like to overeat.
Most people overeat from time to time.
Teens are notorious for being hungry frequently because they need to eat more to support the major growth of muscle and bone that's happening. A teen's normally increased appetite is just his or her body's way of signaling that it needs more nutrients to fuel growth . Binge eating , also called compulsive overeating, is different from normal appetite increases, or overeating now and then. Teens with binge eating disorder eat unusually large amounts of food and don't stop eating when they become full. They binge not just from time to time, but regularly.