Risk factors for eating disorders: findings from a rapid review

Table 1 Risk factors associated with EDs

Risk factor category	Features of risk factor	Associated ED
Genetic	See Sect. Introduction and Table 2 for details	AN, BN, BED
Gut microbial dysbiosys	Escherichia Coli (CIpB)	AN
Autoimmune disease	Diabetes, inflammatory gastrointestinal disease	AN, BN, EDNOS
Childhood weight status	Low BMI	AN
	High BMI	BN, BED
Relationship with parents	Parent perception that the child is overweight	AN-BP, BN, BED, PD
	Parental teasing about weight	AN-BP, BN, BED
	Perceived pressure from parents to eat	ARFID
Neglect/abuse/trauma		AN, BN, BED, PD
	Post-traumatic stress disorder	BED
Personality traits	Perfectionism	AN-R, A-AN
	Obsession	AN-R, A-AN
	Impulsiveness	AN-BP, BN, BED, PD
Comorbid conditions	Obsessive compulsive disorder	AN
	Social anxiety disorder	BN, AN
	Borderline personality disorder	BN, BED, PD
	Bipolar disorder	BN, BED
	Depression	All EDs
Social/environmental	Exposure to ‘thin ideal’	All ED
	Body dissatisfaction	BN, BED, PD
	Early puberty development	BN, AN
	Food insecurity	Binge eating behaviours
	High educational attainment	Restricting type ED behaviours
	Involvement in elite sports	All ED

ED eating disorder; AN anorexia nervosa; BN bulimia nervosa; BED binge eating disorder; EDNOS eating disorder not otherwise specified; BMI body mass index; AN-BP anorexia nervosa (binge-purge subtype); PD personality disorder; ARFID avoidant restrictive food intake disorder; AN-R anorexia nervosa (restrictive subtype); A-AN atypical AN

ISSN: 2050-2974