Prevalence and Correlates of Disordered Eating Behaviors Among Young Adults with Overweight or Obesity

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

<div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d6649578e212">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d6649578e213">Background</h5> <p id="Par1">Clinical and community samples indicate that eating disorders (EDs) and disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) may co-occur among adolescents and young adults at a weight status classified as overweight or obese. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d6649578e217">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d6649578e218">Objective</h5> <p id="Par2">To determine the prevalence of EDs and DEBs among young adults at a weight status classified as overweight or obese using a nationally representative sample and to characterize differences in prevalence by sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d6649578e222">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d6649578e223">Design</h5> <p id="Par3">Cross-sectional nationally representative data collected from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d6649578e227">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d6649578e228">Participants</h5> <p id="Par4">Young adults ages 18–24 years old.</p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d6649578e232">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d6649578e233">Main Measures</h5> <p id="Par5">ED diagnosis and DEBs (self-reported binge eating or unhealthy weight control behaviors including vomiting, fasting/skipping meals, or laxative/diuretic use to lose weight). Covariates: age, sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, weight status, and education. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d6649578e237">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d6649578e238">Key Results</h5> <p id="Par6">Of the 14,322 young adults in the sample, 48.6% were at a weight status classified as overweight or obese. Compared to young adults at a weight status classified as underweight or normal weight, those at a weight status classified as overweight or obese reported a higher rate of DEBs (29.3 vs 15.8% in females, 15.4 vs 7.5% in males). Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that odds of engaging in DEBs were 2.32 (95% confidence interval 2.05–2.61) times higher for females compared to males; 1.66 (1.23–2.24) times higher for Asian/Pacific Islander compared to White; 1.62 (1.16–2.26) times higher for homosexual or bisexual compared to heterosexual; 1.26 (1.09–1.44) times higher for high school or less versus more than high school education; and 2.45 (2.16–2.79) times higher for obesity compared to normal weight, adjusting for all covariates. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d6649578e242">  </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d6649578e243">Conclusions</h5> <p id="Par7">The high prevalence of DEBs particularly in young adults at a weight status classified as overweight or obese underscores the need for screening, referrals, and tailored interventions for DEBs in this population. </p> </div>

Related collections

Most cited references 31

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The enigma of male eating disorders: A critical review and synthesis.

Scott Griffiths, Jerel Calzo, Tiffany A. Brown … (2017)

Historically, male presentations of eating disorders (EDs) have been perceived as rare and atypical - a perception that has resulted in the systematic underrepresentation of males in ED research. This underrepresentation has profoundly impacted clinical practice with male patients, in which i) stigmatization and treatment non-engagement are more likely, ii) a distinct array of medical complexities are faced, and iii) symptom presentations differ markedly from female presentations. Further, the marginalization of males from ED research has hindered the assessment and clinical management of these presentations. This critical review provides an overview of the history of male EDs and synthesizes current evidence relating to the unique characteristics of male presentations across the diagnostic spectrum of disordered eating. Further, the emerging body of evidence relating to muscularity-oriented eating is synthesized in relation to the existing nosological framework of EDs. The impact of marginalizing male ED patients is discussed, in light of findings from epidemiological studies suggesting that clinicians will be increasingly likely to see males with ED in their practices. It is suggested that changes to current conceptualizations of ED pathology that better accommodation male ED presentations are needed.

0 comments Cited 196 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Education, income, and occupational class cannot be used interchangeably in social epidemiology. Empirical evidence against a common practice.

S. Geyer (2006)

Education, income, and occupational class are often used interchangeably in studies showing social inequalities in health. This procedure implies that all three characteristics measure the same underlying phenomena. This paper questions this practice. The study looked for any independent effects of education, income, and occupational class on four health outcomes: diabetes prevalence, myocardial infarction incidence and mortality, and finally all cause mortality in populations from Sweden and Germany. Sweden: follow up of myocardial infarction mortality and all cause mortality in the entire population, based on census linkage to the Cause of Death Registry. Germany: follow up of myocardial infarction morbidity and all cause mortality in statutory health insurance data, plus analysis of prevalence data on diabetes. Multiple regression analyses were performed to calculate the effects of education, income, and occupational class before and after mutual adjustments. Sweden (all residents aged 25-64) and Germany (Mettman district, Nordrhein-Westfalen, all insured persons aged 25-64). Correlations between education, income, and occupational class were low to moderate. Which of these yielded the strongest effects on health depended on type of health outcome in question. For diabetes, education was the strongest predictor and for all cause mortality it was income. Myocardial infarction morbidity and mortality showed a more mixed picture. In mutually adjusted analyses each social dimension had an independent effect on each health outcome in both countries. Education, income, and occupational class cannot be used interchangeably as indicators of a hypothetical latent social dimension. Although correlated, they measure different phenomena and tap into different causal mechanisms.

0 comments Cited 191 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Shared risk and protective factors for overweight and disordered eating in adolescents.

D Neumark-Sztainer, Kristin Wall, J. Haines … (2007)

Weight-related problems, including obesity, eating disorders, and disordered eating, are major public health problems in adolescents. The identification of shared risk and protective factors for these problems can guide the development of relevant interventions to a broad spectrum of weight-related problems. This paper examines the prevalence and co-occurrence of overweight, binge eating, and extreme weight-control behaviors (vomiting, diet pills, laxatives, and diuretics) in adolescents and identifies shared risk and protective factors from within the socioenvironmental, personal, and behavioral domains for these three adverse weight-related outcomes. Data were collected at Time 1 (1998-1999) and Time 2 (2003-2004) on 2516 adolescents participating in Project EAT (Eating Among Teens). Data were analyzed in 2006-2007. Weight-related problems were identified in 44% of the female subjects and 29% of the male subjects. About 40% of overweight girls and 20% of overweight boys engaged in at least one of the disordered eating behaviors (binge eating and/or extreme weight control). Weight-teasing by family, personal weight concerns, and dieting/unhealthy weight-control behaviors strongly and consistently predicted overweight status, binge eating, and extreme weight-control behaviors after 5 years. Family meals, regular meal patterns, and media exposure to messages about weight loss were also associated with weight-related outcomes, although the strength and consistency of associations differed across outcomes and gender. Weight-specific socioenvironmental, personal, and behavioral variables are strong and consistent predictors of overweight status, binge eating, and extreme weight-control behaviors later in adolescence. These findings support the need for research to determine if decreasing weight-related social pressures, personal weight concerns, and unhealthy weight-control behaviors can contribute to reductions in obesity in children and adolescents.