Stressful life events can lead to disordered eating in teens
(Nov. 24, 2008) — Young adults and older adolescents facing stressful life events are far more likely to engage in disordered-eating behaviors, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. As a result, researchers suggest health care providers, school counselors, and others who work with adolescents screen for disordered-eating behavior when an adolescent reports experiencing a stressful life event.
“Stressful life events, such as termination of a long-term personal relationship or excessive credit card debt, are associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety,” said Katie Loth, M.P.H., R.D., lead author of this Project Eating Among Teens (EAT) study. “It is possible that individuals turn to disordered-eating behaviors to assist them in coping with the negative feelings that accompany stressful life events.”
Approximately 32 percent of females who reported having three or more stressful life events used extreme weight control behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting or taking diet pills, compared with 13.4 percent of females who had no stressful life events. Roughly 20 percent of males who reported having three or more stressful life events also reported engaging in extreme weight control behaviors, an eightfold increase from those who reported suffering from no events. Examples of stressful life events include being involved in a serious automobile accident or parents filing for a divorce or separation.
The Project EAT study was designed to build a greater understanding of the socio-environmental, personal, and behavioral factors associated with diet and weight-related behaviors during adolescence so more effective nutrition interventions can be developed.Researchers analyzed data from 1,708 teens who were surveyed in their high school classrooms from 1998-1999, and again by mail from 2003-2004. This study will be published in the November (Volume 42, Number 5) issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
