New research from the US looking at the global proportion of disordered eating in children and adolescents has found 30 per cent of girls show signs of disordered eating.
The researchers also found that more than 1 in 5 children and adolescents presented with disordered eating, and that this disordered eating was significantly higher in girls than in boys.
Along with this global prevalence in girls, the research showed a correlation of disordered eating in older adolescents as well as those with a higher body mass index.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week, the study involved a systematic review looking at 32 studies from 16 different countries.
The study defined disordered eating as behaviours including weight loss dieting, binge eating, self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise and the use of laxatives or diuretics.
While researchers noted that ‘disordered eating’ is different from ‘eating disorders’– more serious psychiatric disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa– they point to the alarming fact that “ disordered eating in childhood/adolescence may predict outcomes associated with eating disorders in early adulthood” as reason to take urgent action.
Every study in the researcher’s analysis used the SCOFF questionnaire to identify disordered eating, which they said “has been extensively used to raise the suspicion level of an eating disorder” and “seems to be highly effective as a screening tool.”
While the meta-analysis didn’t include Australian data, Associate Professor Gemma Sharpe, a senior clinical psychologist at Monash University told the Sydney Morning Herald, that patterns of behaviour are similar and she “doesn’t see any reason why the research is not applicable to Australia.”
Laura Hart from the University of Melbourne and Andrea Phillipou from Swinbourne University of Technology say that disordered eating can “often include problems with body image.”
The research also comes as 2023 Australian of the Year, Taryn Brumfitt, calls for increased support for body positivity saying at the award ceremony that “body image was the number one concern for 70 per cent of Australian school children” and calling this a “paediatric health emergency”.
Researchers in this latest study have called for urgent action to address the high proportion of disordered eating in young people that is likely to progress to eating disorders, which they note are “among the most life-threatening psychiatric problems”.
“People with these conditions die 10 to 20 years younger than the general population,” according to the report.
So what can be done? Researchers say that strengthening information systems, evidence and research for mental health is essential, as recognised in the WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030.
They also point to the importance of screening eating disorders in primary care settings and the use of the highly effective SCOFF questionnaire.