Exploring factors behind disordered eating and eating disorders

Disordered eating often involves many of the behaviours we associate with eating disorders, such as:

• Avoiding certain food groups
• Binge eating
• Calorie restriction or extreme dieting

However, an eating disorder is a clinical diagnosis while disordered eating refers to unusual eating patterns. Despite being unusual, these patterns do not meet the criteria for someone to be diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Someone with an eating disorder may do some of the things we associate with disordered eating, but not everyone affected by disordered eating will be diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Project aims

Our aim for this project is to explore the epidemiology of disordered eating among the diverse participants of the Born in Bradford Age of Wonder cohort study.

Epidemiology is a science that studies the distribution, patterns, and nature of health and disease in a population. A cohort study follows a group of people over time.

Born in Bradford Age of Wonder is a seven-year project working with teenagers in Bradford to capture their experiences from adolescence into adulthood. Researchers in Bradford are working in partnership with secondary schools and young people to create a picture of what it’s like to grow up in Bradford.

Our work so far

We analysed data from 7,400 adolescents, aged 12-15, taking part in the Born in Bradford Age of Wonder study. We looked at eating disorder symptoms, including:

• Restrictive eating
• Binge eating
• Concerns about weight and body shape
• Other behaviours linked to eating disorders

We also explored how symptom levels varied according to sex, ethnicity, gender identity and socioeconomic background.

Our analysis showed that 9.5% of participants met the threshold for elevated eating disorder symptoms. Symptom levels were higher among:

• Girls
• Gender-diverse adolescents
• Young people living in the most deprived areas

The study revealed notable differences between ethnic groups. Among girls, White participants reported higher symptom levels than Asian and Black girls. In contrast, Asian, Black and other ethnic minority boys reported higher symptom levels than White boys.

Weight and shape dissatisfaction was the most commonly reported symptom, affecting around half of participants.

Our findings challenge common assumptions about who is affected by eating disorders and underline the need for prevention and support strategies that reach a broader range of young people.

They also highlight the potential role of schools in identifying young people who may be experiencing eating disorder symptoms, as schools provide an opportunity to reach adolescents from diverse backgrounds.

What we hope to achieve

We want to generate and test theories that help us understand what might be influencing how disordered eating develops over time (whether it gets worse or improves).

We will use our findings to inform future prevention and treatment efforts.

This PhD project is being undertaken by Eliza Shotton, as lead researcher, with Dr Ruth Wadman (University of York), Dr Helen Bould (University of Bristol) and Prof Francesca Solmi (University College London) providing supervision.