Resting metabolic rate in women with bulimia nervosa: a cross-sectional and treatment study.

Two studies on resting metabolic rate (RMR) in bulimia nervosa were conducted. The first study compared RMR before treatment in 25 normal-weight women with bulimia nervosa and 20 control subjects of similar height, weight, body composition, age, and activity level. No significant difference in RMR adjusted for fat-free weight was observed. The second study sought to determine whether RMR in women with bulimia nervosa changed if they ceased vomiting and resumed eating in a more normal fashion after cognitive-behavioral treatment. There was no differential change in RMR from pre- to posttreatment for the "improved" bulimics (9 of 12 subjects who received treatment) relative to 13 control subjects who were also tested twice at the same time intervals as the treated bulimia nervosa subjects. These findings do not support the hypothesis that normal-weight women with bulimia nervosa have a suppressed RMR, nor is it altered with treatment compared with matched control subjects.