An international team of scientists from University College London (UK) and Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands) examined the link between a good appetite in childhood and eating disorders (ED) in adolescence. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Lancet Child and Adolescent Health (TLCAH).
Eating disorders involve pathological mental states in which a person has difficulty controlling their own eating. An eating disorder can be expressed as overeating, restricting food intake, or emotional distress due to one’s own eating habits.
The scientists’ findings are based on a survey of 3,670 young people from England and the Netherlands.
Experts have found that strong food reactions in children ages 4-5 are associated with a higher likelihood of developing eating disorder symptoms by the time they reach ages 12-14. The chances of a teenager starting to overeat ranged from 47%. Moreover, in 16% of cases, the opposite situation was observed when teenagers began to refuse food for fear of gaining excess weight.
A strong reaction refers to the feeling of hunger a child feels every time he sees or smells an appetizing food, the researchers noted.
Co-author of the study, Dr. “Although our study cannot prove a cause-effect relationship, our findings suggest that responses to food cues may be a predisposing risk factor for the onset of eating disorder symptoms in adolescence,” said Yvonne Derks.
The study also found that eating slower and getting full early in childhood may protect a person from eating disorder symptoms later in life.
Previous scientists I learnedWhich part of the human brain is responsible for appetite?