NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with bulimia may spend thousands of dollars a year on food used in binge episodes and on bingeing aids such as laxatives and diet pills, according to the first-ever study to look at the direct cost of the eating disorder to patients.

Food for bingeing accounted for one third of bulimic individuals' total food spending, Dr. Scott J. Crow of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis and colleagues found. "The magnitude of these costs may not be fully apparent to individuals with bulimia nervosa, because of the fact that they accrue gradually and might be partly ameliorated by consumption of food bought by others (e.g. family, partners, roommates)," the researchers write.

While studies have looked at the cost of treating bulimia, there has been no published research on costs to patients themselves, Crow and his team note in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

To investigate, they recruited 10 women who had been diagnosed with bulimia nervosa and were starting treatment. Study participants recorded all the food they ate in a week, noting when they purged as well as any episodes they considered to be binges. They also tracked any use of diet pills, laxatives or diuretics.

The women averaged 4.7 binges during the week, and 3.6 purges. They spent an average of $106.98 on food each week, translating to $5,581.79 a year. Of this total, $30.65 a week or $1,599.45 a year went to food used in binge episodes. This accounted for 32.7 percent of study participants' total spending on food.

Three of the study participants reported using diet pills, diuretics, and laxatives, and spent an average of $4.54 a week or $236.99 a year on them.

Costs varied widely, the researchers note, from a low of $367.85 spent annually on bingeing and purging to a high of $3,487.02. It's uncertain whether these variations were related to study participants' income or their symptom severity, they add.

Based on the average annual U.S. income for women 25 to 34 years old in 2006, which was $30,316, spending on bingeing represented 5.3 percent of before-tax income, the researchers say.

The costs are likely an underestimate, they add, given that these women were seeking treatment, and that people who record their food intake tend to monitor their eating behavior more closely.

Providing bulimia patients with information on the costs of bingeing could help in their treatment, Crow and his colleagues suggest.

"Future studies should continue to examine monetary costs of eating disorder symptoms, to provide accurate data to patients as they evaluate the problems associated with their bulimic symptoms, and to better understand the financial burdens of eating disorders," they conclude.

SOURCE: International Journal of Eating Disorders, January 2009.

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