Abstract
Objective: Despite known associations between eating disorders and obesity, little
is known about the current prevalence of symptoms of eating disorders across the
weight spectrum. This study therefore aimed to estimate the population prevalence
of eating disorder symptoms in relation to weight status in adolescents.
Method: The sample comprised 3,270 participants (14–15 years; 52% boys) drawn
from Wave 6 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Symptoms of anorexia
nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) were assessed using self-report on the
Branched Eating Disorder Test. This measure identifies clinically significant symptoms
in the past 3 months according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, fifth edition. Using study-derived cross-sectional population weights,
the prevalence of each symptom was estimated for the total population and by sex
and weight status.
Results: The estimated population prevalence was high (14.3–25.7%) for body image
symptoms such as fear of weight gain and overvaluation of body weight but lower
(0.5–3.7%) for behavioral symptoms such as binge eating and compensatory behaviors.
Symptoms were more prevalent among adolescents with overweight or obesity.
Although most symptoms tended to have higher prevalence among girls than boys,
boys with obesity had higher prevalence of binge eating and excessive exercise than
girls with obesity. The overall estimated population prevalence for AN and BN was
0.20% and 0.10%, respectively.
Discussion: The study highlights a need for clinicians to be cognizant of disordered
eating behaviors regardless of weight status and has implications for both eating disorder
and obesity prevention and intervention.