Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jul 10;12(7):e0181104.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181104. eCollection 2017.

Predictors and long-term health outcomes of eating disorders

Katie M O'Brien  1 , Denis R Whelan  1   2 , Dale P Sandler  3 , Janet E Hall  4 , Clarice R Weinberg  1
Affiliations

Predictors and long-term health outcomes of eating disorders

Katie M O'Brien et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Anorexia and bulimia nervosa may have long-term effects on overall and reproductive health. We studied predictors of self-reported eating disorders and associations with later health events. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) for these associations in 47,759 participants from the Sister Study. Two percent (n = 967) of participants reported a history of an eating disorder. Risk factors included being non-Hispanic white, having well-educated parents, recent birth cohort (OR = 2.16, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.01-2.32 per decade), and having a sister with an eating disorder (OR = 3.68, CI: 1.92-7.02). As adults, women who had experienced eating disorders were more likely to smoke, to be underweight, to have had depression, to have had a later first birth, to have experienced bleeding or nausea during pregnancy, or to have had a miscarriage or induced abortion. In this descriptive analysis, we identified predictors of and possible long-term health consequences of eating disorders. Eating disorders may have become more common over time. Interventions should focus on prevention and mitigation of long-term adverse health effects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Hudson JI, Hiripi E, Pope HG Jr., Kessler RC. The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biol Psychiatry. 2007;61(3):348–58. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.03.040 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC1892232. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Swanson SA, Crow SJ, Le Grange D, Swendsen J, Merikangas KR. Prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in adolescents. Results from the national comorbidity survey replication adolescent supplement. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011;68(7):714–23. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.22 . - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hjern A, Lindberg L, Lindblad F. Outcome and prognostic factors for adolescent female in-patients with anorexia nervosa: 9- to 14-year follow-up. Br J Psychiatry. 2006;189:428–32. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.105.018820 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Steinhausen HC, Jakobsen H, Helenius D, Munk-Jorgensen P, Strober M. A nation-wide study of the family aggregation and risk factors in anorexia nervosa over three generations. Int J Eat Disord. 2015;48(1):1–8. doi: 10.1002/eat.22293 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Misra M, Aggarwal A, Miller KK, Almazan C, Worley M, Soyka LA, et al. Effects of anorexia nervosa on clinical, hematologic, biochemical, and bone density parameters in community-dwelling adolescent girls. Pediatrics. 2004;114(6):1574–83. doi: 10.1542/peds.2004-0540 . - DOI - PubMed