title: A critique of the literature on etiology of eating disorders.
abstract: The development of eating disorders including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and atypical eating disorders that affect many young women and even men in the productive period of their lives is complex and varied. While numbers of presumed risk factors contributing to the development of eating disorders are increasing, previous evidence for biological, psychological, developmental, and sociocultural effects on the development of eating disorders have not been conclusive. Despite the fact that a huge body of research has carefully examined the possible risk factors associated with the eating disorders, they have failed not only to uncover the exact etiology of eating disorders, but also to understand the interaction between different causes of eating disorders. This failure may be due complexities of eating disorders, limitations of the studies or combination of two factors. In this review, some risk factors including biological, psychological, developmental, and sociocultural are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4H 1R3; ; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1A1;
authors.forename: Azadeh A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Rikani
authors.affiliation: Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4H 1R3; ; Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3H 1B1; ; Division of Research & Medical Education, International Maternal and Child Health Foundation, Montreal, QC, Canada, H7S 2N5;
authors.forename: Zia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Choudhry
authors.affiliation: Division of Research & Medical Education, International Maternal and Child Health Foundation, Montreal, QC, Canada, H7S 2N5;
authors.forename: Adnan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Choudhry
authors.affiliation: Neurochemistry Research Unit, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan, 71000;
authors.forename: Huma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikram
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1;
authors.forename: Muhammad W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Asghar
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5;
authors.forename: Dilkash
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kajal
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA, USA, 17033;
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Waheed
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Cell-Material Science, Kyoto University, Yoshida Ushinomiyacho, Sakyo - ku, JAPAN, 606-8501.
authors.forename: Nusrat J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Mobassarah
keywords: Binge eating disorder; Bulimia nervosa; Co-morbidity; Etiology; anorexia nervosa