Eating disorders program got people moving, and many stayed active a year later

Here is good news if you or someone you love lives with binge eating. A structured program can help people move more, and the change can last. In a study of adults with binge-eating disorder and obesity, about half were physically active after the program, up from fewer than one in five before it. A year later, about half were still going.

That matters because eating disorders like this one often make it harder to get active in the first place. This program helped people get there.

How the study worked

Researchers looked at data from a randomized trial of adults with binge-eating disorder and obesity. Everyone took part in a 6-month lifestyle program focused on weight loss, either the standard version or one with extra steps for people who needed more help. The team checked physical activity, weight, heart health markers and eating-disorder symptoms at the start, at the end of the program, and 12 months later. The work appeared in January 2026 in Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and because it looked back at trial data, it can show links but not prove that activity caused each result.

What they found

At the start, only 18.2% of people counted as “active.” By the end of the program, 49.1% did. Twelve months later, 48.0% still did. So roughly half kept moving a full year after the program ended.

Moving more went along with better results in a few ways:

• People who were moderately active or active lost more weight than people who were sedentary.
• A year later, the active group had a lower body mass index and had lost a bigger share of their weight than the sedentary group.
• Right after the program, active people showed fewer eating-disorder symptoms.
• People who stayed sedentary were less likely to stop binge eating.

Heart and metabolic health markers, like cholesterol, improved along with weight loss. Activity by itself was tied to only a few of those markers.

What does binge-eating disorder mean?

It means having repeated episodes of eating a large amount of food while feeling a loss of control. It is a real, treatable condition. It is also linked with higher odds of heart disease and diabetes, and many people with it find weight loss and exercise harder than others do. That is what makes these results encouraging.

What you can do today

Pick one kind of movement you actually like, such as a walk with a friend, dancing in the kitchen or gardening, and do it for 10 minutes today. If binge eating is part of your life, ask a professional who treats eating disorders about a program. Many US therapists and dietitians list this specialty, and your insurer can point you to in-network options.