A study conducted through the University of Minnesota has identified several factors that increase the risk of eating disorders among overweight teenagers.

University of Minnesota researchers discovered overweight youth with certain socio-environmental, psychological, and behavioral tendencies, such as reading magazine articles about dieting, reporting a lack of family connectedness, placing a high importance on weight, and reporting having participated in unhealthy weight control behaviors, are more likely to suffer from eating disorders. (Source: PsychCentral)

Researchers also discovered that risk factors differed between boys and girls.

• Young girls whose physical activity was at moderate to extreme levels, and who also had lower self-esteem, were a greater risk.
• For young men, risk factors included depressive symptoms and poor eating patterns.
• One common risk factor in both male and female subjects was a lack of family connectedness, leading researchers to encourage parents toward having the whole family spend time together  sharing a meal, a movie or even just a walk outside.

Labels: causes of eating disorders, risks, youth, overweight

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A nationwide survey in Canada will attempt to paint a clearer picture of eating disorders among young people. It will be the first-ever attempt to measure rates of bulimia in children ages five to eighteen:

The study is driven by a recent trend noticed by doctors who see eating disorders appear at earlier ages among children.

Researchers at [a] Toronto [hospital] were recently surprised to find binging and purging in children much younger than 12, an age previously believed to be about the lowest threshold for such behaviors. (Source: Canada.com)

Dr. Leora Pinhas, psychiatric director of the eating disorders program at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, told Canada.com that he hopes the study will help doctors better understand how widespread the issue of bulimia is, and which children are most susceptible.

Labels: eating disorders, youth, canda, study

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