Prevalence of Binge Eating Behavior Among High School Students and Associations with Social Media Use, Mental Health, and Suicide Risk - Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2025.

Abstract

Disordered eating among adolescents is a public health concern, and binge eating, which is eating an unusually large amount of food while feeling a loss of control, is among the most prevalent forms. In 2025, for the first time, the nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) included an item assessing binge eating among U.S. high school students. Among students with binge eating information available (N = 6,898), this report describes the first national prevalence estimates of binge eating overall and by demographic characteristics and examines associations between binge eating and social media use, mental health, and suicide risk. Pairwise t tests were used to identify demographic differences, and logistic regression models with predicted marginals were used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios to compare binge eating prevalence by social media use, mental health, and suicide risk, overall and by sex. During 2025, 40.5% of U.S. high school students reported binge eating at least 1 day in the past 30 days, with 17.2% reporting ≥3 days. Prevalence of binge eating on ≥3 days was higher among female (18.6%) than male students (15.9%); higher among Hispanic (20.5%) and Black or African American (18.7%) than White (14.6%) and Middle Eastern or North African (9.9%) students; and higher among multiracial (19.6%) than Middle Eastern or North African students. Overall, students who reported using social media hourly or more, having poor mental health, having persistent sadness or hopelessness, or having seriously considered attempting suicide had a higher prevalence of binge eating on ≥3 days than those who did not report these factors. These associations between binge eating and social media use, mental health, and suicide risk were observed among both female and male students. The findings might guide efforts to expand binge eating surveillance among adolescents and identify correlates that could support surveillance and future intervention research.