Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Childhood BMI Linked to Anorexia, Bulimia Later on Among Girls

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on StudyFinds.

Among adolescents, body image can be a very fragile thing. A new report finds eating disorders not only impact those trying to lose weight but can also affect children who are already skinny. Researchers say girls with a low body mass index (BMI) early on in childhood may be at a high risk of developing anorexia nervosa later on. Conversely, young girls with a high BMI are more at risk for bulimia nervosa.

“By examining the records of thousands of girls over their lifetime in national health registers, we have discovered early warning profiles that could signal girls at risk for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa”, says lead author Dr. Britt Wang Jensen from Denmark’s Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital in a media release. “The difference in childhood BMI of girls who later developed eating disorders started to emerge at an early age. These results highlight the importance of regularly monitoring weight and height during childhood to identify these patterns as early as possible.”

Danish researchers analyzed data pertaining to 66,576 girls from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register (born between 1960 and 1996). Those records included information on height and weight measured during annual school health examinations between ages seven to 13. Meanwhile, researchers tracked specific bulimia and anorexia diagnoses using the Danish National Patient Register and the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register.

The analysis showed “inverse associations” between childhood BMI and anorexia later on. For instance, take two girls with a BMI difference of about five pounds. The somewhat heavier girl had a 50 percent higher risk of developing bulimia than the leaner child in later life. At age 13, the risk was 33 percent higher.

Additionally, in comparison to girls with a normal weight at seven years old, overweight participants had twice the risk of developing bulimia nervosa years later.

Source: StudyFinds
https://www.studyfinds.org/childhood-bmi-anorexia-bulimia/

Childhood Abdominal Pain May Be Linked to Disordered Eating in Teenagers

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on MedicalXpress.

New research shows that people who suffer from recurrent abdominal pain in childhood may be more likely to have disordered eating as teenagers.

This is the first study to provide prospective evidence of an association between recurrent abdominal pain at aged 7-9 years and fasting to control weight at aged 16 years. The study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, suggests that recurrent abdominal pain, the most common gastrointestinal complaint of childhood, may be an independent risk factor for later fasting to control weight.

Researchers at the University of Oxford, Duke University U.S., and the University of Bristol, used the "Children of the 90s' population cohort of 14,000 children in the UK, to explore this association.

Dr. Kate Stein, lead author of the study, Department of Psychiatry, University Oxford, said, "The factors behind eating disorders are complex, but our findings suggest that for some patients, recurrent abdominal pain in childhood may precede and contribute to later problems.

"While we cannot confirm that childhood recurrent abdominal pain increases the risk of developing an eating disorder, we suspect that some children become fearful of their pain and start to avoid foods which they associate with the pain. This could then set them on a trajectory which leads to unhelpful fasting behaviors in adolescence."

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-childhood-abdominal-pain-linked-disordered.html

Dieting and Weight Worries on Rise in Teens

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on ScienceDaily.

Significantly higher numbers of Generation Z boys and girls in the UK are dieting to lose weight, and are likely to overestimate their own weight, finds a new study.

The research, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that girls who are trying to lose weight are also more likely to experience depressive symptoms than in previous years.

In 2015, 42% of 14-year-old girls and boys said they currently were trying to lose weight, compared to 30% in 2005.

Lead author Dr. Francesca Solmi (UCL Psychiatry) said: "Our findings show how the way we talk about weight, health, and appearance can have profound impacts on young people's mental health, and efforts to tackle rising obesity rates may have unintended consequences.

"An increase in dieting among young people is concerning because experimental studies have found that dieting is generally ineffective in the long term at reducing body weight in adolescents, but can instead have greater impacts on mental health. We know, for instance, that dieting is a strong risk factor in the development of eating disorders."

The research team reviewed data from 22,503 adolescents in the UK, in three different decades, who are part of different cohort studies: the British Cohort Study (of people born in 1970; data was collected in 1986), the Children of the 90s study (born 1991-92, data collected in 2005), and Millennium Cohort Study (born 2000-02, data collected in 2015).

The adolescents were all asked questions about whether they were, or had been, trying to lose weight, whether they had dieted or exercised to lose weight, whether they perceived themselves to be underweight, about the right weight or overweight (which was compared to their actual height and weight measurements), and they filled out questionnaires that gauged depressive symptoms. The researchers found that in 2015, 44% and 60% of all participants had dieted or exercised to lose weight, respectively, compared to 38% and 7% in 1986.

While girls have consistently been more likely to diet to lose weight, the researchers found a greater increase over the years among boys, who were also becoming more likely to be trying to gain weight.

Both girls and boys also became more likely to overestimate their weight from 1986 to 2005, and even more so by 2015, which the researchers say adds to their concerns that increased efforts to lose weight are not necessarily due to increased obesity rates.

The reported weight-related behaviors and weight misperception were associated with depressive symptoms, and among girls, this relationship was becoming even stronger over the three decades examined in this study. The findings could possibly be part of the explanation for increases in adolescent depressive symptoms that have been observed in recent decades.

Source: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201116112855.htm

Anorexia Often Stunts Girls' Growth

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Girls with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa may have stunted growth, new research suggests.

People with anorexia nervosa believe they weigh too much, even if they're underweight. They may lose a dangerous amount of weight by dieting, exercising excessively, or binge-eating and purging.

"Our findings emphasize the importance of early and intensive intervention aiming at normalization of body weight, which may result in improved growth and allow patients to reach their full height potential," said researcher Dr. Dalit Modan-Moses of Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel.

For the report, the researchers studied 255 girls around age 15 who were hospitalized for anorexia nervosa.

The investigators measured the patients' height at the time of hospitalization and again at adulthood. The women's adult height was much shorter than expected compared with the genetic potential gauged by their parents' height, the study authors said.

"We suggest that the height impairment is a marker for other complications of anorexia nervosa affecting the person's overall health in several aspects: bone health, cognitive [mental] function, and problems with pregnancy and childbirth later in life. Early diagnosis and treatment could prevent, or at least reduce, the risk of these complications," Modan-Moses said in a news release from the Endocrine Society.

The report was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/anorexia-news-28/anorexia-often-stunts-girls-growth-study-finds-760477.html

More Teen Time on Social Media, More Eating Disorders?

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

The more often young teens turn to social media, the more prone they are to eating disorders, new research suggests.

While the study does not prove social media use causes eating disorders, it raises a red flag, said study author Simon Wilksch. He's a senior research fellow in psychology at Flinders University, in South Australia.

The study looked at close to 1,000 middle school students and their use of four social media networks: Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Tumblr. The researchers found the teens favored the use of Instagram and Snapchat, which use video and photos to communicate.

"The core cognitive [mental] component of disordered eating is the placing of great importance on one's body shape, weight, food intake or exercise," Wilksch said. "Young adolescence is a time of both peer influences and appearance being very important, so it's not hard to see how people this age could become very focused on how they are perceived online."

Among the students studied, strict exercise, skipping meals and other behaviors associated with eating disorders were reported by almost 52% of girls and 45% of boys. Of all the teens, over 75% of girls and nearly 70% of boys had at least one social media account. A greater number of social media accounts were associated with higher scores for both thoughts and behaviors linked to eating disorders.

"I can say that the presence of disordered eating behaviors in boys in the current study was nearly four times higher than found two decades ago in another Australian study," Wilksch said. "Also, in my eating disorder treatment clinic, I am seeing many more young males than previously. And for approximately a third of these, muscle-building is a significant concern."

The study was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/media-health-news-760/more-teen-time-on-social-media-more-eating-disorders-752759.html

Parents Play a Role in Eating Disorders

The ways parents or caregivers interact with children around mealtimes can have unintended consequences, according to a new report in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The study found that teenagers' negative attitudes toward eating—or eating psychopathology—may result from their perceptions of their parents' attitudes about food.

Most parents have the best intentions and want their child to be healthy. As a result, they may inadvertently encourage or pressure that child to eat more food than he or she wants to, or to consume a particular type of food the child doesn't want, said lead author Emma Haycraft, Ph.D., of the Centre for Research into Eating Disorders at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, U.K.

Eating disorders are most likely to manifest during the teenage years, Haycraft said, "a time of developing autonomy." When a parent attempts to control his or her child's eating, a child may then try to regain self-control of eating by not eating other food or starting to binge eat, she said.

For the study, more than 500 boys and girls ages 13 to 15 self-reported measures of eating psychopathology, their parents' current feeding practices, and their own height and weight.

"For both boys and girls, parental involvement was related to lower eating disorder symptomatology [the combined symptoms of a disease], while excessive control was related to higher eating disorder symptomatology. This suggests that parents should be involved in making sure their adolescents are eating the right types of foods, but that they should avoid telling their adolescents how much they should eat," said Shayla C. Holub, Ph.D., and associate professor of psychology at the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Source: MedicalXpress
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-10-parents-role-teen-disorders.html

Teen Girls Obsessed With "Thigh Gap"

It's the latest weight loss craze among American teens striving to emulate the models they see in magazines: the "thigh gap", in which slender legs, when standing with feet together, do not touch.

Experts say the cost of what teens see as an ideal body shape -- but really is for most unattainable -- is self-esteem problems that can lead to eating disorders, depression and even suicide.

On Tumblr, Pinterest and Facebook, "thigh gap" photos abound: close-ups of sometimes unbearably skinny legs published by young girls eager to show off their success -- or bemoan what they see as a failure to whittle away fat.

"Together we can be a size zero with a beautiful thigh gap and flat stomach. Together we can be happy and finally say that we love our bodies," Tumbler user skinnysizezero pledges.

Clinical psychologist Barbara Greenberg warned that for most women, the "thigh gap" is a pipe dream, even via extreme dieting and exercise. "Most women are not built that way to have that space between their thighs," she said. "It is a matter of bone structure," she explained, which "the majority of women do not have."

For teenagers, adopting what Greenberg called an "unrealistic obsession" can be dangerous -- increasing pressures that can lead to depression, even suicidal behavior, as well as to severe eating disorders, which can cause lasting brain and bone damage.

Source: Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/experts-us-teens-have-a-dangerous-obsession-with-the-thigh-gap-2013-10
 

Study Ties Teen Eating Disorders to Increased Risk of Suicide

A new study finds teens who display binge eating behavior are actually at an increased risk of considering suicide as they turn their emotions inward.

The study was conducted by Dr. Rashelle Musci and colleagues from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, and was published in the journal Prevention Science.

In the western culture, a lot of emphasis is put on appearance and it is not surprising to note that numerous young girls and women suffer from eating behavior problems. Binge eating was something most girls resorted to when disturbed, the study noted. This kind of behavior often leads to further distress, shame and embarrassment.

For this study, the team evaluated how depressive and anxious symptoms may be a factor in binge eating and suicidal behavior. They conducted a study on 313 black females between the ages of 6 and 17 and followed them for 11 years.

To examine the level of anxiety, depression, views on their physical appearance and eating disorders, the researchers conducted interviews with teachers, parents and the child. They also kept a track of those who reported suicidal tendencies when the study was conducted.

They noticed that girls who were dissatisfied with their physical appearance often suffered from both depressive and anxious symptoms in adolescence. This in turn led to binge eating. Those adolescent girls who displayed more binge eating behavior reported a greater number of suicide attempts.

Source: Science World
http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/8319/20130723/study-ties-teen-eating-disorders-increased-risk-suicides.htm

Binge-Eating Teens More Likely to Use Drugs

Binge-eating adolescents are more likely to use marijuana and other drugs and become depressed, according to a study that suggests doctors be aware of their teen patients eating habits to help avert these issues.

Teens and young adults who reported being binge-eaters or overeaters were almost twice as likely to start using marijuana than those without the eating disorder, research published today in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found. Binge eaters and overeaters were 1.59 to 1.89 times more likely to use other drugs, researchers said.

People who binge eat can be more impulsive, a trait that may lead them to drug use, said Kendrin Sonneville, the study’s lead author and director of nutrition training in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. More research is needed to look at how to better identify and treat kids who overeat or binge eat, she said.

Source: Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-12-10/binge-eating-teens-more-likely-to-use-drugs-study-finds

Depression and Binge Eating Linked in Teen Girls

Depression and binge eating may go hand in hand among teenage girls.

New research shows that teen girls who are depressed are twice as likely to binge eat or overeat. The converse is also true: Teen girls who binge eat or overeat are two times more likely to become depressed than their counterparts who don’t show signs of problematic eating.

Binge eating is often accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame that may lead to depression. Many people who are depressed may turn to food for comfort.

The study, which appears in the Journal of Adolescent Health, may have some important implications for the treatment and prevention of depression and binge eating.

“If you notice that your daughter is down and depressed, talk to her and try to see if she is using food to feel better,” suggests researcher Alison E. Field, ScD. She is an associate in medicine at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

In the four-year study, girls who said they ate a very large amount of food in a short period of time at least once a month during the last year were considered overeaters. Binge eaters were girls who said they felt out of control while overeating at least once a month during the past year.

While not all of the teen girls in the study had full-blown eating disorders, binge eating and overeating may set the stage for developing one. “They are on their way, and it’s much better to try to stop early this early,” Field says.

Source: WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20111214/depression-binge-eating-linked-teen-girls