Eating disorders are widely considered to primarily be a mental health condition tied to weight and body image, but a new study suggests the picture is far more complex.
The research, by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, looked at genetic factors that could play a role in binge eating behaviours and anorexia nervosa.
Eating disorders affect millions of people worldwide, primarily in high-income countries, with Western Europe consistently showing the highest burden.
They involve abnormal eating and preoccupation with food, as well as prominent body weight and shape concerns. Symptoms result in significant risk or damage to health, distress or the impairment of normal functioning, and it is estimated that 95% of first-time cases occur by the age of 25.
The study, published in the journal Nature Mental Health, included nearly 40,000 individuals with binge-eating behavior and around 25,000 individuals with anorexia nervosa who were compared with more than 1.2 million individuals without eating disorders.
