At first glance, it probably would not occur to a layperson to suspect that, in children, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) would have any connection with eating disorders. And yet, it appears that a relationship has always existed, although recognition of that fact is characterized as “relatively new.” Here are some words about Harvard Medical School discoveries:
Research has demonstrated that individuals with ADHD have a greater risk for developing binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa than their peers without ADHD… Girls with ADHD were almost four times more likely to have an eating disorder than those without ADHD. Another empirical study found that 11 percent of women with ADHD, compared to 1 percent of women without, reported a history of bulimia nervosa.
Attention deficit implies poor impulse control; so does binge eating (BED). ADHD can make a person feel inadequate and unable to cope with life. Consequently, in an effort to find relief from that situation, plenty of folks see food as the answer. Humans are sadly prone to paradoxes, or psychological wrinkles of which they are unconscious. One of those is the unfortunate belief that eating is a way to exert control over one’s own life, even when it leads to a bad place.
Science backs up the connection:
Both people with BED and people with ADHD have trouble heeding their internal cues of satiety and hunger… A hyperfocus on food may be appealing to individuals with ADHD, since it simplifies their thinking about the subject.
An individual’s development into responsible adulthood requires the ability to devote a boatload of focused attention that nevertheless must be dispersed among an overwhelming number of diverse areas. To name just a few — financial responsibility; accountability when put in charge of other people’s needs; the expectation of showing up for work on time; the ongoing necessity to keep track of objects (like keys and wallets) that must not be lost; the expectation that one can and will respond appropriately to either friendly advances or hostile approaches; the list just goes on and on.
The upside?
Still, a person can usually exert control over what does or does not go into their mouth. Whether someone decides to eat more than is wise, or less than is sane, they still get to be the boss of that department. This can provide a great deal of relief from the stress of paying attention to numerous conflicting demands that not only need to be met, but must be attended to at appropriate times and with the required amount of serious intent.
During a hard day of allotting precious attention to all those extraneous requirements, dominance over the kingdom of the self can be exerted by devouring a large pizza and a quart of ice cream; or maybe by fasting like a medieval saint.
As author Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D., points out, this rats’ nest of avoidance and engulfment can metamorphose into a problem that requires a whole team of medical professionals to sort out. It may even lead to treatment with stimulant drugs. Helpful as that approach sometimes may be, it can also lead to the same hell, only through a different gate.
When it comes to children whose attention capacity is all over the map, a stimulant drug can often help them. Common sense would say, “Wait a minute, wouldn’t that just turn the child into a little speed freak with even less ability to focus her mind enough to concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds at a time?” But common sense would be mistaken.
Ritalin, Adderall, and other prescription stimulants “act primarily on the brain’s reward and wakefulness centers, rather than on its attention circuitry,” according to such medical experts as Benjamin Kay, M.D., Ph.D., and Nico U. Dosenbach, M.D., Ph.D. Their work has shown that…
[…] stimulant medications produced patterns of brain activity that mimicked the effect of good sleep, negating the effects of sleep deprivation on brain activity.
(To be continued…)
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Stimulant ADHD medications work differently than thought,” WASHU.edu, 12/24/25
Image by EME/Pixabay
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