Weight concerns influence the development of eating disorders: A 4-year prospective study.

TLDR

The study prospectively examined factors linked to onset of partial‑syndrome eating disorders over four years in 877 high‑school‑aged girls. Four percent of participants developed a partial‑syndrome eating disorder, with weight concerns strongly predicting onset—girls in the highest quartile had a 10% incidence while none in the lowest quartile did.

Abstract

The authors examined factors prospectively associated with age of onset of partial syndrome eating disorders over a 4-year interval in a community sample (N = 877) of high school-age adolescent girls. Four percent developed a partial syndrome eating disorder over the interval. A measure of weight concerns was significantly associated with onset in a multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis (p < .001). Girls scoring in the highest quartile on the measure of weight concerns had the highest incidence (10%) of partial syndrome onset, whereas none of the girls in the lowest quartile developed eating disorder symptoms. This finding is consistent with both theoretical and clinical perspectives and may represent a useful step toward the establishment of a rational basis for the choice of a prevention intervention target.