Photo Credit: Imgorthand
The following is a summary of “Disordered Eating Profiles in Adolescence to Early Adulthood and Future Cardiometabolic Health,” published in the November 2024 issue of Pediatrics by Pereira et al.
Evidence on the impact of disordered eating patterns on long-term cardiometabolic health is limited. Disordered eating behaviors during critical developmental periods, such as adolescence and early adulthood, may have lasting effects on body weight and metabolic health.
Researchers conducted a prospective study to examine associations between disordered eating trajectories and future cardiometabolic health outcomes.
They assessed participants from the Epidemiological Health Investigation of Teenagers cohort (Porto, Portugal) at ages 13, 17, and 21 using 3 subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) (drive for thinness, bulimia, and body dissatisfaction). A latent class analysis identified trajectory profiles. Associations with body mass index (BMI) and metabolic syndrome features were tested at ages 21 (n = 1619), 24 (n = 916), and 27 years (n = 720) using generalized linear models and logistic regression.
The results showed 4 disordered eating profiles: “higher” (16-19%), “increasing” (26-28%), “decreasing” (18-19%), and “lower” (35-37%). Compared with the lower levels profile, individuals with higher and increasing disordered eating levels had a higher BMI at ages 21, 24, and 27 years. Women in the higher levels profile had higher odds of having ≥1 metabolic syndrome quality at ages 21 and 24, while men with higher and increasing disordered eating levels had increased odds at all 3 ages (21, 24, 27 years).
They concluded that individuals with higher or increasing disordered eating levels from ages 13 to 21 years had a higher risk of poor cardiometabolic health up to 6 years later.
