Eating Disorders Affect 1.7 Percent of Teens

The results of a new study show that conditions such as anorexia, binge eating disorder or bulimia affect one in 60 teens in any given year. These data are alarming, say investigators, and highlight the need for awareness campaigns to address the issue.

Scientists with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducted the survey, which provides the most accurate data on the issue to date.

The one-year prevalence rate that teens display when it comes to eating disorder is maintained at 1.7 percent, which is consistent with recent estimates published ahead of the study.

Experts with the research group say that they also used data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A) to gain a better understanding of the situation.

The NCS-A is a representative sample of adolescents in the United States, which included 10,123 individuals aged 13 to 18, explains NIMH expert Sonja Swanson, ScM, quoted by PsychCentral.

The main objective of the research was to analyze the 12-month prevalences of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge-eating disorder (BED) and subthreshold eating disorders. The experts also wanted to learn about the lifetime of these conditions in patients.

According to the group, anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder had a one-year prevalence rate of 0.2, 0.6, and 0.9, respectively. Lifetime prevalence rates were 0.3 percent, 0.9 percent and 1.6 percent.

“[…] this study provides key information concerning the epidemiology of eating disorders in the US adolescent population,” the NIMH experts write in a new paper detailing the findings.

“The prevalence of these disorders is higher than previously expected in this age range, and the patterns of comorbidity, role impairment, and suicidality indicate that eating disorders represent a major public health concern,” they go on to say.

“Finally, these findings support the nosological distinction [classification of diseases] between the major subtypes of eating disorders as well as the importance of inclusion of the full spectrum of eating behaviors in estimating the magnitude and correlates of eating disorders in the US population,” they add.

Details of the work appear in the March 7 issue of the esteemed medical journal Archives of General Psychiatry.