Peer-reviewed article
Global prevalence of eating disorders in children: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.
Nader Salari, Pegah Heidarian, Mohammad Javad Tarrahi, Marjan Mansourian, Zara Canbary et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the global prevalence of eating disorders in children across multiple databases. The study found that eating disorders affect approximately 1% of children worldwide, with pica being the most common at 2.1%, followed by binge eating disorder at 1%, and anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa at lower rates. The authors conclude that healthcare workers and parents need greater awareness to identify and manage these disorders early.
Key points
- Global prevalence of eating disorders in children is 1% (95% CI: 0.6-1.6)
- Pica is the most common eating disorder in children at 2.1% prevalence
- Binge eating disorder affects 1% of children
- Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are less common at 0.6% and 0.1% respectively
- Eating disorders are chronic mental health conditions that disrupt children's growth and development
Limitations
The document does not specify which countries or regions were included in the analysis, making it unclear whether the global estimate is truly representative. The wide confidence intervals for some disorders and high heterogeneity suggest substantial variation in prevalence across studies.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Eating disorders (EDs) are known as chronic mental disorders that can cause adverse physical and mental effects and affect different age groups, including children, and disrupt their growth and development. Based on this, the aim of this research is to determine the global prevalence of EDs in children. METHODS: To conduct this research, each of the databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of science, Embase, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar search engine were systematically searched using relevant keywords ("prevalence,""outbreak,""eating disorder,""feeding disorder,""eating problem,""appetite disorder,"to find all the studies that refer to the prevalence of EDs in children until July 23, 2024 to obtain and perform further evaluations. After data extraction, their analysis was done by Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (Version 2); Random effects model was used for analysis and I2 index was also used to check the heterogeneity of studies. RESULTS: Based on the global prevalence of EDs in children based on meta-analysis was 1% (95% CI: 0.6-1.6); Subgroup analysis based on the study of eating disorders in children showed that the prevalence of pica among children is 2.1% (95% CI: 1-4.6), the prevalence of binge eating disorder is 1% (95% CI: 0.6-1.8), and the prevalence of anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa among children is 0.6% (95% CI: 0.01-34.4) and 0.1% (95% CI: 0-0.4), respectively. CONCLUSION: Considering the importance of nutrition in children and the report of EDs among them, healthcare workers and medical personnel must pay attention to this category of disorders by timely informing parents to reduce the complications caused by it.