Parental and Child Characteristics Related to Early-Onset Disordered Eating

Abstract

Eating disorders are rare in children, but disordered eating is common. Understanding the phenomenology of disordered eating in childhood can aid prevention of full-blown eating disorders. The purpose of this review is to systematically extract and synthesize the evidence on parental and child characteristics related to early-onset disordered eating. Systematic searches were conducted in PubMED/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycInfo using the following search terms: eating disorder, disordered eating, problem eating, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, child, preadolescent, and early onset. Studies published from 1990 to 2013 addressing parental and child characteristics of disordered eating in children aged 6 to 12 years were eligible for inclusion. The search was restricted to studies with cross-sectional, case-control, or longitudinal designs, studies in English, and with abstracts available. Forty-four studies fit these criteria. Most studies were based on community samples with a cross-sectional design. The included studies varied considerably in size, instruments used to assess early-onset disordered eating, and parental and child characteristics investigated. Important determinants included the following: higher body weight, previously reported disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, depression, parental disordered eating, and parental comments/concerns about child's weight and eating. The findings were inconsistent for sex, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, self-esteem/worth, and parental body weight. In conclusion, characteristics related to early-onset disordered eating have mainly been explored with a cross-sectional design. Full understanding of causal pathways will require good-quality longitudinal studies designed to address the influence of parental eating behaviors, mental and physical health, family interactions, and child growth patterns.

Maternal perception of children's nutritional status in the Federal District, Brazil

“…Mothers tend to be more concerned about the nutritional status of their daughters, wishing them to be thinner. This may reflect the beauty standard imposed by the media and may lead to severe consequences, such as an increased prevalence of eating disorders [10,32,40]. Conversely, with regard to boys, it has been suggested that the greater trend of mothers to underestimate child’s nutritional status may be explained by the idealization of strong and robust bodies for male individuals, but additional studies are needed to evaluate these aspects [41].…”

The Science Behind the Academy for Eating Disorders' Nine Truths About Eating Disorders

“…Some prospective studies have investigated effects of parent and family functioning in predicting later eating disorder onset with mixed results. For example, some evidence suggests that parental factors predict later eating pathology (Johnson, Cohen, Kasen, & Brook, ; Nicholls & Viner, ; Shoebridge & Gowers, ); however, reviews have not identified consistent patterns of risk associated with parenting styles or family interactions (Campbell & Peebles, ; Eisler, ; Larsen, Strandberg‐Larsen, Micali, & Andersen, ; le Grange, Lock, Loeb, & Nicholls, ; Strober & Humphrey, ; Yager, ). Indeed, greater family conflict, reduced parental alliance, and increased feelings of depression in families with a child suffering from AN might reflect an accommodation process in response to a severe and life‐threatening condition (Sim et al, ).…”

“… Typical patterns of family functioning or structure that give rise to eating disorders have not been identified. Families are not to blame and in most cases can be the patients' and providers' best allies in treatment. Reviews on family functioning in eating disorders point to the need for rigorous prospective designs to help understand how environmental variables, including family systems, may interact with biological risk (as discussed in Truths 7 and 8) to either heighten risk or buffer against the development of eating disorders (Larsen et al, ; Saltzman & Liechty, ). Eating disorders place stress on a family system, and future investigations that aim to reduce the burden on caregivers are necessary. Consideration of in‐home care may be a useful direction for services. Families represent an important base of support for those in recovery, and the effectiveness of FBT for adolescents highlights how parents and caregivers can be important allies in treatment.…”

Parental characteristics in association with disordered eating in 11‐ to 12‐year‐olds: A study within the Danish National Birth Cohort

“…The prevalence of self‐reported disordered eating at 7.2%, including weekly and monthly behaviours, is in accordance with findings from previous population‐based studies (Ricciardelli & McCabe, ). In general, the existing evidence indicates that females compared to males more often exhibiting eating psychopathology (Smink et al, ), but the evidence on sex differences in children and young adolescents is not consistent (Larsen et al, ). Our findings showed that any disordered eating was only slightly more frequent in girls than boys, but boys more frequently reported purging, whereas girls more frequently reported fasting, and binge eating.…”