Eating disorders are often associated with teenage girls from socioeconomically advantaged families. However, a new study from the University of Copenhagen challenges this perception, suggesting that eating disorders are just as likely to affect young people from less advantaged backgrounds. The researchers analyzed data on eating disorder diagnoses from more than 500,000 people born in Denmark between 1996 and 2003. For a subgroup of 44,000 young people, they also had information on self-reported symptoms of eating disorders.
The findings show that children and adolescents from highly educated families are more likely to receive a formal diagnosis of an eating disorder. At the same time, young people from families with lower levels of educational attainment are more likely to report symptoms of an eating disorder without ever having received a diagnosis.
The results suggest that social inequalities not only influence illness itself, but also who is identified and receives help.
"Eating disorders, particularly anorexia, have traditionally been viewed as conditions that primarily affect young people from highly educated families. Our study suggests that the picture is more complex. It may largely be a question of who is recognized, referred and diagnosed," says Andrea Joensen, postdoc at the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, and lead author of the study published in JAACAP Open.
