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Eating Disorder Risk Factors Vary By Age

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 June 2008, 00:00 CDT

Risk factors for binge eating and purging may vary between boys and girls and by age group in girls, Boston researchers said.

Alison E. Field of the Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School and colleagues analyzed data from 1996 to 2003 among 6,916 girls and 5,618 boys ages 9 to 15 at the beginning of the study.

During seven years of follow-up, 10.3 percent of the girls and 3 percent of the boys started to binge eat or purge at least once a week. Slightly more girls started to purge -- 5.3 percent -- than binge eat -- 4.3 percent -- while binge eating was more common than purging -- 2.1 percent vs. 0.8 percent -- among boys.

The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, said girls under age 14 whose mothers had a history of an eating disorder were almost three times as likely than their peers to start purging at least once a week. But maternal history of an eating disorder was unrelated to risk of starting to binge eat or purge in older adolescent females, the study indicated.

Our results suggest that prevention of disordered eating and eating disorders may need to be age- and sex-specific, the study authors said in a statement.

Source: United Press International

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