Childhood Eating Problems
May Extend to Adulthood

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A childhood marked by conflicts over eating and ``unpleasant'' meals may foreshadow the development of eating disorders in adolescence and adulthood, according to researchers.

Dr. Lisa A. Kotler and colleagues from the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City assessed the eating patterns and outcomes of approximately 800 children over a 17-year period.

Their findings showed that eating disorder symptoms were often stable over time. For instance, children who developed bulimia nervosa in early adolescence were 20 times more likely to have the disorder as adults, compared with those without bulimia in adolescence. A 35-fold increased risk was found for study participants with bulimia nervosa in late adolescence.

In addition, certain childhood eating problems were significantly tied to the development of later eating disorders. For example, children said to have ``struggles around meals'' were about seven times more likely to develop anorexia as teens or young adults, the investigators report in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

However, the researchers stress, the overall prevalence of diagnosed eating disorders in this study was low, ranging from less than 1% to about 3% among males and females. Therefore, most kids with some symptoms of eating problems will not actually develop an eating disorder by young adulthood.

The ideal way to address eating problems in young people remains unclear, Kotler and colleagues note. Since most will not develop full-blown eating disorders, closely monitoring these children and teens may be the most appropriate option, the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2001;40:1434-1440.

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