Abnormal Childhood BMI May Point to Increased Risk of Eating Disorder

Young children whose BMIs are significantly lower or higher than average may be at increased risk of developing an eating disorder in adolescence, suggests astudy published in theJournal of the American Academy of Child& Adolescent Psychiatry.“Observing children whose BMI trajectories persistently and significantly deviate from age norms for signs and symptoms of ED [eating disorder] could assist in identification of high-risk individuals,” wrote Zeynep Yilmaz, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues.The researchers analyzed a subset of data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), which included 1,502 children who had at least one BMI measurement between birth and age 12.5 years. The ALSPAC determined BMI by collecting information about the participants ’ height and weight via questionnaires sent to mothers on average every year and via face-to-face assessments with the participants every two years. The participants were assessed for eating disorders at ages 14, 16, and 18 years. The researchers then compared the average BMI over time of particip ants who had not developed an eating disorder with that of participants who had developed anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, or purge disorder.Boys who later developed anorexia nervosa had significantly lower BMIs than those with no eating disorder by age 7. Girls who later developed anorexia nervosa had significantly lower BMIs than their pe...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: ALSPAC anorexia nervosa binge-eating disorder BMI bulimia nervosa children eating disorders Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry purge disorder Zeynep Yilmaz Source Type: research