Jazz Jennings Opens Up About Her Battle With Binge-Eating Disorder

• Jazz Jennings has been open in the past about struggling with her weight, pointing out before she had bottom surgery that she needed to lose 30 pounds.

• Now, she’s sharing in a trailer for season seven of her reality show, I Am Jazz, that she’s dealing with binge-eating as she prepares to enter her freshman year at Harvard University.

• Jazz says that she has difficulty being active because of her weight and that she’s not getting the best feedback from her family.

Jazz Jennings has been open in the past about struggling with her weight, pointing out before she had bottom surgery that she needed to lose 30 pounds. Now, she’s sharing in a trailer for season seven of her reality show, I Am Jazz, that she’s dealing with binge-eating as she prepares to enter her freshman year at Harvard University.

“Two years ago, I was on my way to one of the greatest institutions in the world, but I was actually struggling severely with mental health issues," Jazz says in the trailer. "I started binge eating and I gained weight and more weight and more weight. And now, almost 100 pounds heavier, here I am today."

Jazz says that she has difficulty being active because of her weight and that she’s not getting the best feedback from her family. “I do experience fat-shaming from my family,” she says. It makes me feel really humiliated."

Watch the trailer here:

Binge-eating disorder is a serious eating disorder where someone often eats unusually large amounts of food and feels like they can’t stop eating, according to the Mayo Clinic. People with binge-eating disorder often feel that their eating habits are out of control, they tend to eat even when they’re not hungry, eat alone or in secret, and feel depressed, disgusted, ashamed, guilty, or upset about their eating habits.

There are health risks associated with binge-eating disorder including many linked with obesity like a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart-related issues, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.

Jazz has opened up about her weight gain before, sharing comparison photos of herself on Instagram in June. “As many of you have noticed, over the past few years, I have gained a substantial amount of weight,” she wrote in the caption. “I suffer from binge-eating disorder, a disease in which I’m not only addicted to food, but I eat it in large quantities.”

Jazz wrote at the time that some of the medication she’s on causes an increase in her appetite. And that, coupled with binging, led to her gaining almost 100 pounds in two years.

“I’m posting this photo because it’s time for me to address my weight gain and hold myself accountable,” she said. “I’m ready to change my ways; I’ve been saying I’m ready to turn over a new leaf, but I’m running out of trees now. I’m ready to take the initiative and create positive changes when it comes to my health and body.”

Jazz said that she has a “fabulous team supporting me, both professionals and family/friends, but at the end of the day, I have to be the one committed toward bettering myself.” She ended on this note: “I know I have the power in me to lose the weight, and I intend on sharing my progress with all of you.”

Since then, Jazz has shared photos of herself playing pickleball with her siblings, but hasn’t publicly addressed her weight.

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