40% of high school students report binge eating in new CDC survey

A 2025 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey revealed that about 40% of U.S. high school students reported binge eating in the past month, with 17% reporting binge eating within the last three days. The data, marking the CDC's first binge eating query in its Youth Risk Behavior Survey, showed higher prevalence among female students (19%) and youth of color, including Hispanic (20%) and Black (19%) teens. Binge eating was linked to hourly social media use, poor mental health, and suicidality.

Binge eating rates among high school students

• ▪The 2025 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 17% of nearly 7,000 surveyed U.S. high school students reported engaging in binge eating within the past three days.
• ▪In the 2025 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, binge eating was reported by 19% of female and 16% of male students, and 20% Hispanic, 20% multiracial, 19% Black, 15% white, and 10% Middle Eastern or North African high school students.
• ▪In the 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 40% of U.S. high school students reported binge eating in the past 30 days.

Inclusion of eating disorder questions in CDC surveys

• ▪Disordered eating questions were eliminated from the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2015 to create space for questions regarding youth vaping before advocacy groups secured the inclusion of a binge eating question for 2025.
• ▪The 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey marked the first time the CDC asked high school students about binge eating and the first data on disordered eating collected by the survey in a decade.
• ▪Eating disorder advocacy groups are seeking to include questions on restrictive behaviors, such as fasting, dieting, and purging, in future CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveys.

Link between ultra-processed foods and overconsumption

• ▪Ultra-processed food and addiction researcher Ashley Gearhardt noted that binge eating emerged as a recognized clinical problem alongside the growing dominance of highly processed foods in the food supply.
• ▪UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health nutrition epidemiologist Lindsey Smith-Taillie stated that cheap, shelf-stable, and heavily marketed ultra-processed foods contribute to overconsumption in homes.