[Study of risk of eating disorders in a representative sample of adolescents].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to estimate the percentage of adolescents with risk eating behaviours for developing an eating disorder (ED), analyzing the differences in gender, age and body mass index (BMI).


METHODS
We used a representative sample of 2,142 adolescents (47.2% boys, 52.8% girls) from different schools in Alicante. The screening procedure was performed using the EAT-40, with a cutoff point of 30, and the BMI was calculated.


RESULTS
11.2% of adolescents presented risk behaviours of developing an ED, 7.79% were girls and 3.34% boys. Adolescents of 12 years had higher scores on the EAT-40 than other classmates. Teenagers with higher risk eating behaviours had a BMI greater than those with lower scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The percentage of girls who presented more risk eating behaviours was lower than previous studies. The age in which these behaviours are manifested, supports the need to develop prevention strategies at younger ages.
Departamento de Psicología de la Salud, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, Alicante, Spain. lpamies@umh.es
Lidia
L
Pamies-Aubalat
Yolanda Quiles
YQ
Marcos
Miguel Bernabé
MB
Castaño
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012309:Risk-Taking