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The prevalence, incidence and development of eating disorders in finnish adolescents—a two‐step 3‐year follow‐up Study
Author(s) -
Isomaa Rasmus,
Isomaa AnnaLisa,
Marttunen Mauri,
KaltialaHeino Riittakerttu,
Björkqvist Kaj
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
european eating disorders review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.511
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1099-0968
pISSN - 1072-4133
DOI - 10.1002/erv.919
Subject(s) - eating disorders , anorexia nervosa , bulimia nervosa , subclinical infection , incidence (geometry) , anorexia , psychiatry , medicine , not otherwise specified , psychology , pediatrics , clinical psychology , optics , physics
Abstract Objective To investigate the prevalence, incidence and development of eating disorders and subclinical eating pathology. Method A two‐step three‐year follow‐up study on eating disorders in adolescence ( N = 595) was conducted in western Finland. A screening questionnaire followed by a semi‐structured interview was used to determine the prevalence, incidence and development of eating disorders. Results The lifetime prevalence rates for females age 18 were 2.6% for anorexia nervosa (AN), 0.4 for bulimia nervosa (BN), 7.7% for AN‐NOS, 1.3% for BN‐NOS and 8.5% for subclinical eating disorders. No prevalent case of DSM‐IV eating disorders was found among the male participants. The incidence rate of any eating disorder in females age 15–18 was 1641 per 100 000 person‐years. Conclusion Eating disorders are relatively common in female adolescents. As many as one in five adolescent females are or have been struggling with eating disorder related issues during their teenage years. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.