Can an online test tell you whether you have Food Addiction or Binge Eating Disorder?
Not by itself.
Screening tools can be useful for recognizing patterns and deciding whether something deserves a closer look. But they are screeners, not diagnoses.
This week’s Wiki Spotlight explains which tools may be useful for different questions—and what their results actually mean.
👉 Self-Tests and Screening Tools for Food Addiction or BED
🧭 First ask: what are you trying to screen for?
Different tools answer different questions.
If you're wondering about BED
A BED-specific screener such as the BEDS-7 may be useful.
It looks for patterns associated with Binge Eating Disorder, including things such as:
- loss of control
- distress about binge episodes
- eating when not hungry
- embarrassment
- guilt or disgust afterward
A positive result means:
“BED may be worth evaluating further.”
It does not mean:
“You definitely have BED.”
🧠 If your eating feels addiction-like
The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS 2.0) is the best-known research measure for addiction-like eating.
It looks at patterns such as:
- strong cravings
- difficulty cutting down
- eating more than intended
- continued eating despite consequences
- significant preoccupation with food
- distress or impairment
But there is an important limitation:
Food Addiction is not currently an official DSM diagnosis.
So meeting the YFAS threshold means you show a pattern consistent with the research construct of addiction-like eating—it is not the same thing as receiving a formal medical diagnosis.
🔍 If you're not sure what kind of eating problem you may have
A broader eating-disorder screen may be a better starting point.
The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) offers a screening tool that looks more generally at eating-disorder risk.
That may be more useful if your concern is simply:
“Something about my eating doesn't seem right, but I don't know what it is.”
📊 What does a positive result really mean?
Probably the most useful way to interpret a positive screen is:
“This may be worth looking into further.”
Not:
“This test has diagnosed me.”
A proper assessment can consider things a short questionnaire cannot fully capture, including:
- frequency and duration
- amount eaten
- loss of control
- restriction
- compensatory behaviors
- physical consequences
- other mental-health conditions
- how much the problem interferes with daily life
Context matters.
❓ What about a negative result?
A negative screen does not always mean there is no problem.
Different questionnaires measure different things, and no screening tool catches everyone.
If you are repeatedly experiencing:
- loss of control
- binge eating
- severe restriction
- purging
- intense food preoccupation
- significant distress
- secrecy
- health consequences
those concerns still deserve attention even if an online screening result is negative.
⚖️ Restriction can complicate the picture
Screening results can also be difficult to interpret when someone is heavily restricting food.
For some people, certain foods appear to trigger repeated loss of control.
For others, dieting, fasting, or rigid food rules may contribute to increasing hunger, food preoccupation, and binge eating.
Some people experience both.
A questionnaire score alone cannot tell you which pathway best explains your eating.
🤝 What about Overeaters Anonymous' Fifteen Questions?
The OA Fifteen Questions can be useful for thinking about compulsive eating and whether OA's recovery approach might be relevant to you.
But it is important to know what it is:
It is a recovery-community self-reflection questionnaire—not a clinical diagnostic test for BED or Food Addiction.
That doesn't make it useless.
It simply means it serves a different purpose.
🚩 Sometimes you don't need another test
You do not need to “prove” that your eating problem is serious enough before seeking help.
Consider professional assessment if you are experiencing things such as:
- frequent or escalating binge eating
- repeated loss of control
- severe restriction
- self-induced vomiting
- laxative or diuretic misuse
- fasting or excessive exercise to compensate
- significant physical consequences
- serious emotional distress
- major disruption to work, relationships, finances, or everyday life
In those situations, the whole pattern matters more than another questionnaire score.
💡 The takeaway
The best use of a screening tool is:
“Is there something here that deserves a closer look?”
The worst use is:
“This score proves exactly what diagnosis I have.”
A screener can be a useful first step.
It should not be the final word.
Screeners are signposts—not verdicts.
💬 Discussion
Have you ever taken an eating-related screening questionnaire that helped you understand your pattern better?
Did it clarify something for you, raise new questions, or lead you to seek more information or professional help?
You are welcome to discuss what you learned from the process, but please remember that other Reddit members cannot reliably diagnose someone from a test score.
📖 Read the full Wiki article:
Self-Tests and Screening Tools for Food Addiction or BED
The Wiki is for education and peer support and is not a substitute for individualized medical or mental-health care.