Background
The Binge Eating Scale (BES) is a self-report questionnaire developed by Gormally, Black, Daston, and Rardin in 1982 to help measure the severity of binge eating behaviors and eating-related emotional difficulties. It was originally created to better understand patterns of overeating among individuals struggling with obesity and unhealthy eating habits. The assessment examines thoughts, feelings, and behaviors connected to food, including emotional eating, food cravings, loss of control while eating, guilt after overeating, secretive eating, and difficulty recognizing hunger or fullness cues. Many people may occasionally overeat, but this scale focuses on repeated behaviors and emotional struggles that may interfere with daily life, self-esteem, physical health, or emotional well-being. The BES is commonly used for screening, research, and self-awareness purposes. It is not intended to provide a medical diagnosis, but it may help identify eating patterns that could benefit from healthier coping strategies, lifestyle changes, supportive conversations, or professional guidance.
Procedure
Read each group of statements carefully and choose the one statement that best describes your usual experiences, feelings, or eating behaviors. There are no right or wrong answers. Try to answer honestly based on how you normally feel and behave around food and eating situations.
Participation
This assessment is designed for adults and older teenagers who want to better understand their eating habits, emotional eating patterns, food cravings, and possible binge eating behaviors. Participation is voluntary, and responses should reflect your real experiences as accurately as possible.
Scoring & Interpretation
The Binge Eating Scale (BES) is scored based on the severity of the statements selected. Each response is scored on a 0–3 or 0–5 scale depending on the item. The total raw score is calculated by summing all responses, with the total score ranging from 0 to 46. Scores of 17 or below indicate minimal binge eating severity, 18–26 indicate moderate severity, and 27 or higher indicate severe binge eating. Results are distributed across five distinct behavioral and emotional subscales, which are standardized to a 0–100 scale for comparative profiling.
Binge Eating Scale (BES) Questionnaire
Below is the Binge Eating Scale (BES), a digitally adapted 16- items self-assessment questionnaire. Please read each of the following 16 statement groups carefully. For each item, select the single response statement from the options that best describes your typical thoughts, feelings, behaviors, or experiences with food and eating. Respond as honestly as possible.
Sources
- Gormally J, Black S, Daston S, Rardin D. The assessment of binge eating severity among obese persons. Addictive Behaviors. 1982.