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BOSTON — Frequent binge eating is the country's most common eating disorder, far outpacing the better-known diet problems of anorexia and bulimia, according to a national survey.

Psychiatric researchers at Harvard University Medical School and its affiliate, McLean Psychiatric Hospital, have billed the study as the first national census of eating disorders. The results were published today in the medical journal Biological Psychiatry.

The survey found that 3.5 percent of women and 2 percent of men suffer from binge eating, defined as bouts of uncontrolled eating, well past the point of being full, that occur at least twice a week.

The doctors diagnosed less than 1 percent of women and 0.3 percent of men with anorexia, a disorder where an exaggerated fear of weight gain causes undereating and malnourishment. The study determined that 1.5 percent of women and 0.5 percent of men had bulimia, characterized by the "binge-purge" syndrome of overeating followed by vomiting.

McLean Hospital's Harrison Pope, an author of the study, said binge eaters face severe risk of obesity and related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.

A binge eater, for instance, might eat a full dinner, then a quart of ice cream for dessert, followed by a bag of chips, without being able to stop, Pope said.

James Hudson, the study's lead author and a Harvard Medical School psychiatry professor, said binge eating deserves more recognition from health professionals.

Funding for the study came from several sources, including the National Institutes of Health, Eli Lilly & Co. and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.