Eating disorders more common in teenagers from poorer backgrounds, researchers say
The team's findings are contrary to common stereotypes that eating disorders affect the wealthier
A new study involving 26,174 teenagers found that those who come from households with a lower income and lower level of education are more likely to suffer from eating disorders.
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The findings are contrary to common stereotypes that affect the wealthier, researchers said.
Senior author Dr Nora Trompeter, from University College London’s Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said: “Eating disorders are often stereotyped as a problem of affluence, but this review shows that this is not the full picture.
“Our review has found that teenagers from lower-income, lower-education households are actually more likely to show signs of disordered eating, not less.
“This tells us that disordered eating is a concern across the socioeconomic spectrum, and prevention and treatment efforts need to reach families facing financial and social disadvantage, who may currently be overlooked.”
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The study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, looked at data from 51 studies from western countries across North America, Europe and Australia.
It included diagnosed cases of anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorders, but also looked at people restricting food, fasting, poor body image and those feeling pressure to become thinner.
The team found that family income showed the strongest and most consistent link with disordered eating habits, while teenagers whose parents had more education were less likely to have these problems.
Those teenagers whose parents did not go to university were also around 25% more likely to report eating disorder symptoms than those whose parents did go to university.
Dr Trompeter said: “Eating disorders don’t discriminate by income or education.
“If anything, the evidence points the other way, and treating them as a ‘privileged’ condition risks leaving adolescents most in need of support undiagnosed and untreated.
“Challenging outdated stereotypes could help reduce missed diagnoses and ensure that those young people who are most in need receive timely treatment.”
Five out of the 51 studies were from the UK and involved 13,483 UK participants.
Most of the studies involved mainly white teenagers.