# Prospective Health Impacts of Chronic Binge Eating Disorder in Hispanic Older Women Living with Food Insecurity (PROSPERA)

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER · 2024 · $563,670

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Women live longer than men, yet they also experience greater morbidity, which makes understanding how
specific chronic conditions further impact multimorbidity in women essential. Importantly, chronic conditions
disproportionately affect certain women, including those who are historically underrepresented, understudied,
and underreported (U3) in biomedical research. Binge Eating Disorder (BED) involves discrete episodes
(≥1/week) of eating abnormally large amounts of food in one sitting while feeling out of control. BED is more
common among women than men and is associated with poor cardiometabolic and mental health profiles,
adjusting for BMI. As with many chronic conditions, disparities exist in both the prevalence and understanding
of chronic BED within subpopulations of women. Specifically, because eating disorders are stereotyped as
disorders of youth, white race, and affluence, data in populations beyond this stereotype are highly limited.
Yet, recent evidence indicates greater BED prevalence and negative health correlates among women in two
understudied areas: 1) older age, and 2) economically disadvantaged. Cross-sectional research suggests
nearly 20% of women aged ≥60 years may meet BED severity criteria, and that those with BED experience
poorer mental health and quality of life, and profound cardiometabolic morbidity. Recent research among
largely Hispanic/Latino (H/L) samples living with food insecurity (FI) found that 17-20% of older women (aged
≥51 years) met BED severity criteria. One limitation to this research is its cross-sectional nature. Thus, the
prospective health impacts of BED among older H/L women living with FI remains unknown. Another limitation
is the insufficient exploration of environmental factors (e.g., psychosocial; social determinants of health
[SDoH]) that influence cardiometabolic risk in older H/L women who have chronic BED and live with FI. The
specific research objectives of this R01 are to determine the prospective mental and cardiometabolic health
impacts of chronic BED in older H/L women living with FI, thus creating a risk index for the health burden of
BED and FI in later life for H/L women. The proposed study will include 250 older (≥50 years) H/L women living
with FI (n =125 with chronic BED & n = 125 no lifetime history of any eating disorder) to assess the prospective
impact of BED on cardiometabolic health (e.g., HbA1C, BMI change), sarcopenic obesity, menopause quality
of life, physical functioning, and depression over 2 years, and to explore SDoH factors between groups on
outcomes (Aim 1); examine longitudinal trajectories of BED and FI (Aim 2); and explore the lived experiences
and major life events among participants with and without BED in a concurrent nested mixed-method design
(Aim 3). The long-term objectives of this research program are to a) elucidate potential factors of influence
(e.g., mediators/moderators) on the health burden of chronic BED in older H/L women living with FI,...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10872852
- **Project number:** 1R01AG086777-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** CAROLYN Black BECKER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $563,670
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-15 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10872852

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10872852, Prospective Health Impacts of Chronic Binge Eating Disorder in Hispanic Older Women Living with Food Insecurity (PROSPERA) (1R01AG086777-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10872852. Licensed CC0.

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