There is no single cause for binge eating problems. Experts tend to believe that a combination of factors is responsible. Binge eating causes include biology, genetics, emotional problems and learned behaviors.
Scientists try to find out how metabolism and brain chemicals affect binge eating disorders. Metabolism means the way through which the body burns calories. Some researches claim that certain part of people is more disposed to overeating. It happens as their hypothalamus (the part of the brain that is charged with appetite) fails to send proper messages about hunger and the feeling of fullness. Serotonin, a brain chemical that influences mood and behaviors may also play some role in binge eating. It should be noted that there are other possible biological factors that make some people more induced to difficulties with binge eating.
Many people say that anger, anxiety, sadness, boredom or other negative emotions can provoke binge eating episodes and are the root of binge eating causes. These people use binging as a way to hide from their feelings, to cope with everyday stresses and troubles, to fill a void they have in their hearts and souls. Overeating can also be used as a way to hold back from contacting people.
In many cases people involved in binge eating feel a lack of love though they may not show it to others. Such people subconsciously maintain an overweight body to cater to the society's stigma that says "nobody will love me if I'm fat and ugly". In the case of bulimia binging and purging, they are used as self-punishment for doing bad things or for feeling bad about everything around.
It's been reported that people suffering from bulimia as well as anorexia have distorted body image; they put too much attention to their appearance. For example, men and women with anorexia consider themselves to be fat even if in the reality they are dangerously thin. On the whole, people with binge eating problems are believed to have impulsive types of behavior and other psychological and emotional problems.
It's also unclear how dieting and binge eating are related. Researches have various results and some of them show that about half of all people with binging had binge episodes before they started dieting. However, diets may worsen overeating problems in some cases. It means that probably people with normal weight or those slightly overweighed should avoid dieting. Obese people and those who have severe medical problems because of their weight should use special treatment for solving their difficulties.
When we define learned behaviors as one of the binge eating causes, we want to point out that patterns of overeating often have their origin in childhood. It can be a result of unhealthy eating habit picked up in the family. It's quite normal to associate food with love and warm feelings. But in some families food is overused as a way to soothe. In such cases children grow up with a habit to overeat if they feel bad. It only indicates that while being kids they were not taught to cope with stresses in other more useful ways. Some children also grow up believing that negative emotions should be suppressed but not expressed.
It may be concluded that research in this field is still being conducted. Ultimately, the results will probably give us clearer understanding of binge eating causes.