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Scientists Have Figured Out Why Some Teenagers Binge Eat

New research from University College London has identified the genetic variations that may cause certain teenagers to binge eat.
Phoebe Hurst
London, GB
Photo via Flickr user Pink Sherbet Photography

Being a teenager had a lot of perks. Lack of responsibility, in-house catering and cleaning services (sorry, Mum), being excused for general lack of life direction, and—perhaps most mourned by those who have passed into the realm of Real Life Adulthood—the snacking. Oh, the snacking.

What it was to be young, carefree, and blind to the vagaries of wheat-free quinoa flakes and Instagram-led eating trends. As long as you could cram it in your mouth and still update your Bebo profile, it was a balanced diet, right?

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While most of us will have spent an embarrassing percentage of our adolescence munching on anything cheese/salt/sugar-smothered with zero preparation time, for some, the urge to overeat is more than just a phase.

READ MORE: Blame Your Brain If You Can't Stop Eating

New research from University College London's (UCL) Institute of Child Health has identified the genetic variations that may cause certain teenagers to binge eat.

Analysing the data of 6000 participants in the University of Bristol's Children of the 90s birth cohort study when they were aged between 14 and 16, scientists investigated genetic variations associated with higher body mass index and obesity risk to see if they also linked to binge eating.

The results showed that teens with a particular variation in the FTO gene locus (rs1558902), which has been associated with obesity in prior studies, were 20 percent more likely to binge eat.

Despite teen boys' increased susceptibility to junk food ads, this trait was particularly marked for adolescent girls, who were up to 30 percent more likely to binge eat if they had the gene variation.

Binge eating or the compulsion to overeat large quantities of food, often over a short period of time, impacts around 10 percent of adults and teenagers and is more common among those who are overweight.

Researchers hope the new findings will lead to better understanding of how binge eating develops and assist in the formation of preventative strategies for teens before they become overweight.

Dr Nadia Micali, a senior lecturer at UCL's Institute for Child Health who led the study explained: "We know variations in the FTO gene can predict binge eating in teenagers, and binge eating, in turn, can predict obesity. Eventually this finding could allow us to develop more targeted treatment for binge eating, and enable much earlier intervention so young people don't develop obesity."

READ MORE: Food Addiction Is Real, Rock-Bottom Pain

Binge eating is often linked to environmental factors but UCL's research joins studies such as the University of Michigan's recent exploration of the appetite-regulating gene within POMC cells in analysing the issue from a biological, rather than behavioural standpoint.

And with more than half of the UK population predicted to be obese by 2050, probing our biological predilection for eating stuff that isn't great for us may be the way forward.