Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Depression and Binge Eating Linked in Teen Girls

Depression and binge eating may go hand in hand among teenage girls.

New research shows that teen girls who are depressed are twice as likely to binge eat or overeat. The converse is also true: Teen girls who binge eat or overeat are two times more likely to become depressed than their counterparts who don’t show signs of problematic eating.

Binge eating is often accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame that may lead to depression. Many people who are depressed may turn to food for comfort.

The study, which appears in the Journal of Adolescent Health, may have some important implications for the treatment and prevention of depression and binge eating.

“If you notice that your daughter is down and depressed, talk to her and try to see if she is using food to feel better,” suggests researcher Alison E. Field, ScD. She is an associate in medicine at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

In the four-year study, girls who said they ate a very large amount of food in a short period of time at least once a month during the last year were considered overeaters. Binge eaters were girls who said they felt out of control while overeating at least once a month during the past year.

While not all of the teen girls in the study had full-blown eating disorders, binge eating and overeating may set the stage for developing one. “They are on their way, and it’s much better to try to stop early this early,” Field says.

Source: WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20111214/depression-binge-eating-linked-teen-girls

Extreme Dieting Often Lasts From Early Teens to Adulthood

Dieting and disordered eating that begin in adolescence often continue into young adulthood, a new study finds.

Disordered eating includes unhealthy and extreme weight-control behaviors, such as fasting or skipping meals and binge eating.

Researchers analyzed data from 1,030 males and 1,257 females who were followed for 10 years beginning in either early adolescence (about 13 years old) or middle adolescence (about 16 years old).

About half of the teen girls and about one-quarter of the teen boys studied reported dieting during the previous year. Among females in both age groups, the prevalence of dieting remained constant from adolescence through young adulthood. For males, dieting remained constant in the younger age group, but increased among the older age group as they progressed to their mid 20s (rising from 22 percent to 28 percent).

The prevalence of unhealthy weight-control behaviors remained constant among the younger girls during the study period. It decreased as the girls aged, but remained very high (61 percent to 54 percent).

For males in both age groups, the prevalence of unhealthy weight-control behaviors remained constant, the study authors noted.

Extreme weight-control behaviors increased significantly in both female age groups, from 8 percent to 20 percent in the younger group of girls and from 13 percent to 21 percent in the older group.

The study is published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diet/articles/2011/06/24/extreme-dieting-often-lasts-from-early-teens-to-adulthood

Eating Disorders in Teens are Common

Eating disorders in teens are common, affecting over a half-million teens in the U.S. These often occur with other psychiatric problems including suicidal thoughts, and don't just affect girls, according to a new study.

'Eating disorders are a serious public health problem," says researcher Kathleen Merikangas, PhD, senior investigator at the intramural research program at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Teens surveyed for the study were asked if they had ever had an eating disorder and if they had had one within the past 12 months. Included were anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder.

For lifetime prevalence, the researchers found:

For anorexia, about 0.3% of the teens were affected (55,000). For bulimia, about 0.9% (170,000).
For binge eating, about 1.6% (300,000).

When the researchers looked at 12-month prevalence, they found lower rates, with 0.2% of teens affected with anorexia, 0.6% for bulimia and 0.9% for binge eating.

Among the surprises of the study, Merikangas said ''we didn't have a big sex difference for anorexia." About 0.3% of both boys and girls were affected for lifetime prevalence.

For bulimia and binge eating, many more girls than boys were affected, researchers found.

Most with an eating disorder also had some other mental health problem, with 55% to 88% of those with an eating disorder also reporting such problems as anxiety, depression, or a behavioral disorder.

The most surprising, to Merikangas, was that ''one-third of those with bulimia had actually attempted suicide." About 15% of those with binge eating had and about 8% of those with anorexia had attempted suicide.

Source: WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/anorexia-nervosa/news/20110307/study-eating-disorders-in-teens-are-common

Rate of Eating Disorders in Kids Keeps Rising

Eating disorders have risen steadily in children and teens over the last few decades, with some of the sharpest increases occurring in boys and minority youths, according to a new report.

An analysis by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that hospitalizations for eating disorders jumped by 119 percent between 1999 and 2006 for kids younger than 12.

At the same time as severe cases of anorexia and bulimia have risen, so too have "partial-syndrome" eating disorders -- young people who have some, but not all, of the symptoms of an eating disorder. Athletes, including gymnasts and wrestlers, and performers, including dancers and models, may be particularly at risk, according to the report.

"We are seeing a lot more eating disorders than we used to and we are seeing it in people we didn't associate with eating disorders in the past -- a lot of boys, little kids, people of color and those with lower socioeconomic backgrounds," said report author Dr. David Rosen, a professor of pediatrics, internal medicine and psychiatry at University of Michigan. "The stereotype [patient] is of an affluent white girl of a certain age. We wanted people to understand eating disorders are equal-opportunity disorders."

The report is published in the December issue of Pediatrics.

While an estimated 0.5 percent of adolescent girls in the United States have anorexia and about 1 to 2 percent have bulimia, experts estimate that between 0.8 to 14 percent of Americans generally have at least some of the physical and psychological symptoms of an eating disorder, according to the report.

Boys now represent about 5 to 10 percent of those with eating disorders, although some research suggests that number may be even higher, said Lisa Lilenfeld, incoming president of the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy and Action in Washington, D.C.

Source: Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/646574.html

‘Drunkorexia’ a Growing Trend for College Students

While “drunkorexia” is not a medical term, it has become easily understood slang for the practice of swapping food calories for those in alcohol.

And as the college semester is in full swing, campus counselors hear the term in the context of alcohol education and eating disorders.

“It’s a sensationalized term, but it’s a tangible idea for students,” acknowledges Emily Hedstrom-Lieser of the Drug, Alcohol & Tobacco Education Office at the University of Northern Colorado. Students at the school are putting up bulletin boards in residence halls on the topic, and creating a series of events for National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, Monday through Friday.

At UNC, Hedstrom-Lieser says students tell her about seeing their friends drink on an empty stomach, binge on “drunk food” — pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers — then feel guilty and vomit.

A study published in the July 2009 issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders found a connection between binge drinking (four or more drinks in one sitting) and eating disorders. The authors suggest that there is a “crucial need for early interventions targeting binge drinking among college-age women regardless of their current drinking status.”

Source: The State
http://www.thestate.com/2010/10/18/1518029/drunkorexia-a-growing-trend-for.html

Study: Family-Based Treatment Best for Anorexia

There is no one cure that helps all young people overcome anorexia. But a new study finds family-based treatments are likely to work better in teens.

The report in the Archives of General Psychiatry also finds adolescents in family-based programs were more likely to achieve full remission six-to-12 months after treatment.

This type of treatment encourages parents to be involved in weight gain and promotes family harmony.

Source: WLS-TV ABC7News
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/health&id=7710174

Ten Percent of Adolescent Girls Admit to Either Binge Eating or Purging

According to the June 9, 2008 issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, one in ten teenage girls either binge eats or purges at least once a week. The incidence of purging was highest among younger adolescent girls. Binge eating among boys was 3%, and boys were less likely to engage in purging. Alison E. Field, ScD, associate professor of pediatrics, in the division of adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston, in Massachusetts said, “I would believe that 10% [of girls] would at least experiment with these behaviors, but once a week is quite severe.” The authors also found that girls who diet frequently and are concerned about their weight are at greater risk for developing eating disorders. Girls, younger than 14, were three times as likely to binge or purge if their mother had a history of an eating disorder.

Source: MedHeadlines
http://medheadlines.com/2008/06/13/ten-percent-of-adolescent-girls-admit-to-either-binge-eating-or-purging/

For more information about eating disorders and how to deal with them, click on the following article titles:

Information on Eating Disorders

Dealing with Eating Disorders and Diet Pills

Patterns: Vomiting Raises Risk of Irregular Periods

As a parent, if you become aware that your daughter has irregular periods, you'll want to dig a bit deeper to see whether or not there is also any indication of vomiting as a means of weight control...

Teenage girls who vomit one to three times a month to control weight increase their risk of having irregular menstrual periods by 60 percent, a new study reports; those who vomit once a week or more triple their risk. When researchers restricted the analysis only to girls of normal weight, the association was even stronger.

Researchers analyzed self-reported data from 2,791 girls ages 14 to 19 nationwide. Almost 9 percent reported vomiting for weight control one to three times a month; an additional 3.1 percent vomited once a week or more. The report appears in the May issue of The Journal of Adolescent Health.

S. Bryn Austin, the lead author and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard, said that about two million teenage girls a year vomit for weight control. “A girl may keep the vomiting a secret, but may talk about her irregular menses. If she does, this presents an opportunity to intervene.”

Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/health/research/27patt.html?