Disordered eating in children
A new study of nearly 12,000 9- and 10-year-olds, published this week in JAMA Pediatrics, provides key insights that help fill that gap. Researchers examined how age, sex, weight, and puberty stage were related to behaviors such as binge eating and vomiting to control weight.
"The first major takeaway is that these behaviors are more common than we've seen before, with a prevalence of up to 5% in some cases," said the study's lead author, Stuart Murray.
Contrary to cultural assumptions, the researchers found that boys and girls were equally likely to engage in disordered eating. The analysis also revealed that children with higher body mass indexes (BMIs), as well as those further along in puberty, faced an elevated risk.
The findings help outline the scope of the problem in this age group and point to biological risk factors that may ultimately lead to more targeted solutions, Murray added.
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