Most also report body dissatisfaction, with females more likely to desire thinness
THURSDAY, Sept. 7, 2017 (HealthDay News) — High rates of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors (DEB) are reported by adolescents with type 1 diabetes, particularly females, according to a study published online Aug. 30 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Emanuala Araia, from Deakin University in Australia, and colleagues used data from a national online survey (Diabetes Eating Problem Survey-Revised [DEPS-R]) of 477 adolescents (aged 13 to 19 years) with type 1 diabetes for at least one year. Four hundred thirty-one participants also completed the Body Mass Index Silhouette Matching Test (BMI-SMT).
The researchers found that the DEPS-R total score was higher for females than males and that females’ scores increased with age. There was a moderate association between BMI, HbA1C, insulin omission, and binge eating frequency and DEPS-R scores for both genders. Eighty-eight percent of females wanted to be thinner on the BMI-SMT, while 76 percent of males reported body dissatisfaction — though just 43 percent of them expressed a desire for thinness. DEPS-R was positively associated with the discrepancy between perceived actual and ideal body size for both genders.
“Given the high levels of self-reported DEB and gender-based patterns of body dissatisfaction, future research needs to examine the effectiveness of routine screening of DEB and consider implementation of stepped care approaches,” conclude the authors.
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