Can Lighting Determine Bulimia
by Andrew Porterfield
Study Finds Poor Indoor Lighting
May Encourage Bulimia and Binge-Eating
Darkness Associated With Uninhibited Behavior Could Yield Clues to Treating Eating Disorders, Such as Bulimia
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Irvine, Calif., Jan. 30, 2002 — A New Year's resolution to diet may have its dark side. Longer nights and overcast skies common in winter may actually make dieters more susceptible to binge eating, a UCI School of Social Ecology study has found.
The study, published in the January issue of Personality and Individual Differences, indicates that regular eating under the cover of darkness is strongly associated with bulimic behavior (bulimia) and may provide researchers with new ways to prevent and treat eating disorders, which afflict more than six million men and women nationwide.
Joseph Kasof, a researcher and lecturer in psychology, found that dieters were more apt to show binge-eating behavior if they preferred to eat in subdued light — either at night or in a darkened room — compared to dieters who had no preference for eating in darker surroundings.
The study extends Kasof's earlier work, which showed a tendency of "evening" people to show more bulimic behavior when compared to people who spent more of their waking hours in daylight.
"Darkness provides a high-risk environment for binge-eating for certain people," Kasof said. "People who spend more waking hours in darkness may be more susceptible, especially if they feel a strong need to diet. But people who prefer to eat in a darkened room may find they lose their inhibitions against eating. This may show us new ways to help prevent many eating disorder cases from occurring."
Binge-eating is a common trait found in bulimia, but it is not exclusively found in bulimics. Bulimia is marked by ingestion of massive amounts of food. It is usually associated with purging, excessive exercise and inappropriate use of laxatives. People with eating disorders tend to have an unrealistic impression that they are overweight. The National Eating Disorders Association estimates that bulimia afflicts up to 10 million adolescent and college-age women and about one million men. In addition, more than half of all American women are on a diet at any given time, as are 25 percent of all American men. Bulimia has no known cure, though psychotherapy and other psychiatric techniques are known to be effective.
Kasof, who used a questionnaire on 400 college students at UCLA, found that students who followed at least a regimented diet were more likely to show bulimic behavior in dimmer light than students who had more uninhibited eating habits. In addition, students who had shown bulimic behavior tended to prefer eating in dim light or darkness more than students who had restricted diets but didn't show bulimic behavior.
"The effect of dimmer light appears to make them feel less self-conscious, allowing for more bulimic behavior," Kasof said. "This may help health care professionals identify the warning signs of bulimia, and may offer us some ways to provide a treatment, perhaps something as simple as keeping areas bright while eating."
Kasof, who recently came to UCI from UCLA, is looking at how self-esteem and obsession with weight and body image play a role in bulimia and eating patterns, in order to determine why certain people may be more susceptible to eating disorders than others.
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