Worrying statistics show that millions of children globally are showing signs of disordered eating.

A startling new study found that three out of every ten girls suffer from an eating disorder, while one in six boys also experience anorexia, bulimia, and other severe eating disorders.

The worrying findings revealed that overall, eating disorders affect 22% of children— or more than one in five. The need for prevention strategies is highlighted by the study authors who call the findings extremely “concerning.”

To arrive at these conclusions, researchers combined data from 32 earlier studies with more than 63,000 participants aged seven to 18 from 16 different countries.

“Identifying the magnitude of disordered eating and its distribution in at-risk populations is crucial for planning and executing actions aimed at preventing, detecting and dealing with them,” writes corresponding author Dr. Jose Francisco Lopez-Gil from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain, in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Some hold social media accountable for encouraging the “thin ideal” and contributing to rising body dissatisfaction among young people who aren’t even overweight. The international team cautions that the phenomenon can shave decades off a person’s life.

“Indeed, eating disorders are among the most life-threatening psychiatric problems,” Dr. Lopez-Gil continues.

“People with these conditions die 10 to 20 years younger than the general population.”

Read the signs

This is the first study of its kind, and it is based on the SCOFF questionnaire (Sick, Control, One, Fat, Food).

Of the 63,181 kids and teenagers involved, 14,856 displayed symptoms of disordered eating, with the proportion being noticeably higher in girls (30%) than in boys (17%).

Rates increased as people aged and their BMI rose (body mass index).

“These findings can inform intervention priorities for disordered eating as a global health initiative to prevent possible health problems among young people, particularly in girls and young people with higher BMI,” the researchers said.

“Our findings indicate more than 1 in 5 children and adolescents presented with disordered eating.”

They added that not all children and adolescents who reported engaging in disordered eating behaviours will necessarily be given an eating disorder diagnosis. In fact, it is noteworthy that disordered eating and eating disorders are not similar.

“However, disordered eating in childhood/adolescence may predict outcomes associated with eating disorders in early adulthood. For this reason, this high proportion found is worrisome and call for urgent action to try to address this situation.”

Early struggles and eating disorder signs

In 2019, 14 million people, including nearly three million kids and teenagers, suffered from eating disorders.

“The behaviours related to eating disorders may lead to greater risk or damage to health, significant distress or significant impairment of functioning,” Dr. Lopez-Gil’s team writes in their report.

For that reason, some steps needed to be made to tackle the worrying issue. The Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan of the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to improve data systems, research, and evidence.

“In this sense, our systematic review and meta-analysis contributes by providing epidemiological evidence on the current situation of disordered eating that, if undetected and untreated, can lead to harmful consequences for the individual, the family and society,” researchers explain.

“Similarly, the high proportion of dis-ordered eating found in this systematic review and meta-analysis reinforce the importance of screening eating disorders in primary care setting.”

One of the steps needed to improve such statistics is the screening of children and teens using longitudinal height and weight monitoring while keeping an eye out for symptoms, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

“In this sense, the SCOFF questionnaire is simple, memorable, and easy for applying and scoring which may be considered the first approach to identify the need fora more detailed and specialized evaluation,” Dr. Lopez-Gil concludes.

“However, positive results should be followed by further questioning, prior to an automatic referral to mental health professionals.”