Children and teens who reported overeating, including binge eating, were more likely to start using marijuana and other drugs, according to a US study looking at over 10,000 youths.
Binge eating, defined by loss of control during overeating, was also tied to a higher chance of depression and becoming overweight or obese, researchers writing in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine said.
"Physicians and parents should be aware that both overeating and binge eating are quite common in adolescents, and these problems put them at risk for other problems, such as drug use," said lead author Kendrin Sonneville, from Boston Children's Hospital.
"The earlier we can screen for who is at risk, the more able we are to prevent the onset of drug use."
This type of study does not prove that one behaviour causes another, but rather that one can be a warning sign of increased risk for the other.
Sonneville's team used data from a large study of 16,882 children and teens, initially between age nine and 15, who filled out health-related questionnaires every year or two between 1996 and 2005.
At any point during that time, up to one percent of boys and up to three percent of girls said they binged regularly. Those rates were reversed - about three percent of boys and one percent of girls - among children who overate without loss of control.
During the study period, 41 percent of youths started using marijuana and 32 percent used other illicit drugs. Children and teens who had reported overeating on surveys were 2.7 times more likely to start using marijuana or other drugs, and binge eaters were 1.9 times more likely to take up drugs.