[Eating patterns and risk of eating disorders in adolescents].

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical period for the onset of eating disorders, which affect an adolescent's diet and can have adverse and long-term health consequences. The relationship between the risk of eating disorders and the diet of Russian adolescents has been little studied. The objective of the research was to characterize the relationship between the risk of eating disorders and dietary patterns in a sample of Russian schoolchildren. Material and methods. The continuous cross-sectional study included tenth-graders of secondary schools (n=379, 63.1% girls) aged 16.0±0.5 years. The Russian version of the Eating Disorder Inventory was used to assess the risk of eating disorders. Dietary information was obtained from questionnaires completed by adolescents, characterizing the frequency of meals (at home and at school) during the week, the variety of dishes, and the frequency of consumption of foods and dishes. Anthropometric measurements were carried out to calculate body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC)/height index. Results. The eating patterns of schoolchildren were significantly disrupted, more so in girls. They were statistically significantly less likely than boys to consume meat, milk, nuts, and butter, and were more likely to skip breakfast. Significant correlations were shown between BMI Z-score and WC/height index in girls with body dissatisfaction (R=0.19 and 0.18, respectively, p<0.01), desire to lose weight (R=0.26 and 0.25, respectively, p<0.01) and bulimic tendencies (R=0.13, p<0.05 for WC/height). In boys, the drive for thinness was significantly associated only with abdominal fat deposition (R=0.26, p<0.01). Body dissatisfaction and desire for thinness in boys were associated with statistically significantly lower consumption of candies, chocolate, ice cream, cookies and potatoes; in girls - with rare consumption of candies, ice cream, sweet carbonated drinks, juices, fast food, as well as bread, meat and sausages, butter, skipping breakfast and dinner. Conclusion. The tendency to develop eating disorder in adolescence is more common in girls and is associated with dietary restrictions affecting important components of the diet necessary for normal growth and development.