Teenage anxiety may be linked to greater risk of eating disorders

Teenage girls suffering from clinical anxiety could be at greater risk of developing eating disorders, according to a new study.

Data collected from girls aged 13–18 showed a link between anxiety disorder and not eating for an entire day, which could lead to eating disorders such as anorexia, according to the study.

Researchers at Bristol University and University College London said their findings could help identify individuals at risk of eating disorders and help prevent them from happening.

The study, published in European Eating Disorders Review, looked at a sample of 2,406 teenage girls from Bristol and found the risk of regular fasting in girls who met criteria for an anxiety disorder two years earlier was twice that of girls who did not have an anxiety disorder.

Fasting was predictive of anorexia nervosa development, and supported the possibility that anxiety increases risk of early symptoms of eating disorder syndromes, the study said.

Data for the research came from Bristol Children of the 90s, a longitudinal study based at Bristol University.

It is estimated that up to 1.5 million people in the UK have some kind of eating disorder, though there is not enough research to reveal how common it actually is.

Dr Caitlin Lloyd, lead author of the new study, said: “Increasing our understanding of disordered eating behaviours and eating disorders is a necessary step in improving outcomes of prevention efforts.

“This is particularly important given the high burden of eating disorders.”