Appetitive Traits in Children May Be Associated With Disordered Eating in Adolescence

Children who show greater food responsiveness in early childhood have a higher risk of experiencing eating disorder symptoms in early adolescence, while those who eat more slowly have a lower risk of such symptoms, according to astudy published this week inThe Lancet Child& Adolescent Health.“Eating disorders frequently coexist with other psychiatric disorders and have high mortality rates,” wrote Ivonne Derks, Ph.D., of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues. “Because these disorders are difficult to treat, focus is shifting towards prevention and early intervention when symptoms or episodes first arise, often in adolescence.”Derks and colleagues used data from two population-based cohort studies: Generation R, which is based in Rotterdam, and Gemini, which is based in England and Wales. Parents reported their children ’s appetitive traits by completing the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) when children were aged four (Generation R) or five (Gemini). Youth self-reported eating disorder symptoms when they were aged 12 to 13 (Gemini) or 14 (Generation R). Eating disorder symptoms included restrained (re stricted) eating, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, binge eating, and compensatory behaviors (such as purging, extended fasting, or hiding or throwing away foods). A total of 3,670 participants from both studies were included in the final analysis.The authors looked at seven appetitive traits measured by the CEBQ. Higher s...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: adolescents appetite binge eating children eating disorders food Food responsiveness Lancet Restricted Eating Source Type: research