User:Agrewal246/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Binge Eating Disorder

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose the article on binge eating disorder because eating disorders are a particular interest of mine within the realm of psychology. I also previously took a psychology course on Eating Disorders where we thoroughly discussed Binge Eating Disorder and its history, risk factors, and symptoms. An article describing binge eating disorder is highly important because eating disorders is one of the deadliest psychological disorders and can have serious health ramifications. Furthermore, BED is more of a recently developed disorder because it has a similar behavioral pattern to bulimia nervosa of binge eating, but BED became a separate condition due to its lack of purging as a symptom. Based on an initial impression, the article appears highly thorough and relevant with multiple academic sources being cited. The article most importantly covers the signs and symptoms, causes, and treatment that would be most relevant to those searching for information about BED. From an academic perspective of a student seeking information for an essay, the article also covers how BED is classified and diagnosed under the ICD and DSM as well as information about the prevalence, comorbidities, and history.

Evaluate the article
Starting at the beginning, the lead section begins with an introductory sentence that perfectly allows the reader to gain an understanding of what binge eating disorder is without reading further. In my opinion, the first sentence could be more simplistic and focused on BED because it discusses other eating disorders which would confuse the reader if they do not have background knowledge of eating disorders. The leading section is concise, but it is not inclusive of all of the article’s major talking points such as treatment which is a major factor for why a person might seek this article. The section also highlights that there is less research about BED compared to other binge eating disorders which is an interesting detail to highlight in a summary of BED. It seems slightly unnecessary, but it also justifies and displays the significance of having a Wikipedia article on BED.

In terms of content, the most applicable sections of discussing a mental disorder include the symptoms, causes, and treatment which were thoroughly and equally discussed. However, in the treatment section, I would argue that the editor could have discussed the lifestyle interventions more and if they were beneficial in improving binge-eating symptomatology because they discussed that for the other treatments such as counseling and medication. I understand it may be due to the lack of research, but they barely explained the other interventions and their relation to BED which included hormonal abnormalities or weight training. I would also argue that the article could include more information on the history of binge eating disorders because there are only a few sentences in that section, and the development of binge eating disorder as a distinct disorder was a unique process in which it was derived from bulimia nervosa. This could be discussed more as to why it was necessary to create such a distinction. Overall, the content is fairly up-to-date, especially considering that BED is a more recently developed eating disorder. Most articles are from around 2010. I appreciate how the editor includes historically underrepresented topics such as the prevalence of sexual and gender minority populations and racial and ethnic minorities. Despite the lack of research within these underrepresented populations, the editor still discusses any possible research and highlights how BED has historically done research on mainly white women. It was also great to note how they included a section on the underrepresentation of eating disorders in men which is a highly current issue in eating disorders in which men are lacking resources and intervention.

The article maintains a consistent tone of neutrality and reads like a scientific article in which they clearly depict the facts. If there is any bias or claims, the editor highlights the lack of research and states in the article the need for more research, but I would argue that this is a fair statement because they support these claims by describing the lack of research in specific minority groups as well as the general lack of research on BED due to it being recently created. In relation to sources, most of the facts are supported by academic publications such as numerous journal articles. There is only one questionable source which was an online article from an online Men’s Magazine, “Paper Boys Club” which does not appear to be a reputable source. Another source links to a random website called, “Mirror-Mirror.org,” which is problematic because this website is being cited for a crucial statistic that discusses the prevalence of BED diagnosed among women who seek weight loss treatments in the US. However, the rest of the sources are fairly recent and academically sourced, and the authors range from various cultures and countries.

Overall, the Wikipedia article is well-organized with the major topics of symptoms, causes, treatment, and epidemiology which included frequency and underrepresented population sections that were nicely separated and structured. However, the writing could flow and be structured better. Within the talk section, someone rewrote a section, the Prognosis section, to make it more coherent which I agree with because despite the article being written neutrally, it causes the sentences to be abrupt and disjointed sometimes. It is concisely written, but certain topics such as lifestyle interventions and the history of the disorder could be expanded upon. The strength of this article is that it is concise and provides the necessary information for a person seeking knowledge about BED especially since it thoroughly covers symptoms, causes, and treatment. However, if a person without a background in eating disorders or psychology reads this article, it may be difficult for them to understand even within the leading section. Thus, the article could gain from more smooth and natural writing. Nevertheless, the article is well-developed overall especially since it covers the most important sections of discussing a mental disorder, but if possible, certain topics could be expanded.