To identify risk factors for eating disorders, researchers followed a large group of English children from birth to age 16. Among the nearly 4,800 young people assessed, several eating patterns were associated with increased risk. Those who were “fussy eaters” throughout childhood — defined as being choosy about foods, refusing food and having general feeding difficulties — were more likely to develop anorexia. The disorder rate for fussy eaters was 3% compared with 1% for participants overall. As well, for girls only, those who persistently under-ate throughout childhood were more likely to develop anorexia, with disorder risk being 6% higher for this group compared with other children. And for binge-eating disorder, for both boys and girls, researchers found significantly greater risk for those with low levels of overeating before age five but increasing levels after that. The binge-eating disorder rate was 2% for these children compared with 1% for participants overall.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 4 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.