A groundbreaking study by British researchers has revealed that teenagers from lower-income backgrounds are significantly more likely to develop eating disorders compared to their peers from middle-class or wealthy families.
The systematic review, co-led by researchers at University College London (UCL) and published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, analyzed data from 51 studies involving over 26,000 adolescents across North America, Europe, and Australia. The findings indicate that teenagers whose parents did not attend university face a 25% higher risk of developing conditions such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Conversely, adolescents from above-average income households demonstrated a comparatively lower susceptibility to these psychological conditions.
Lead author Dr. Nora Trompeter from the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health warned that stereotyping eating disorders as conditions exclusive to affluent populations leads to missed diagnoses among disadvantaged youth. Healthcare experts are now calling on medical professionals, school counselors, and policy makers to widen screening protocols to ensure timely intervention for vulnerable teenagers regardless of socioeconomic status
