background More than three out of four persons with binge eating disorder do not get enough physical exercise.
aim To collect scientific evidence of the effects and benefits that movement and physical exercise can have on persons with a binge eating disorder.
method PubMed, PsychInfo, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Library, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, the Dutch Journal of Psychiatry (Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie), het Tijdschrift voor Vaktherapie and Actual Themata derived from psychomotor therapy were screened for the period January 1994 to August 2011. The methodological quality of the studies was determined on the basis of a checklist. Evidence for the effectiveness of the interventions was summarised by best-evidence synthesis.
results Eight studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Strong evidence was found for: 1) significant weight-loss after movement interventions; 2) fewer symptoms of depression after a combination of both movement and cognitive behavioural therapy (cbt) than after cbt on its own. There was only limited evidence for 1) the fact that the combination of movement and cbt leads to less eating disorder pathology than does cbt alone; 2) the beneficial effects of yoga on weight-loss as well as on the reduction of eating disorder pathology.There are indications that walking can be helpful in reducing of eating disorder pathology.conclusions Activities involving movement and physical exercise deserve to play an important role in the multidisciplinary treatment of binge eating disorders.