Eating disorders: risk factors and clinical management

Eating disorders are biologically based serious mental disorders which individuals typically acquire in mid-adolescence at a developmentally sensitive time.

Lifetime prevalence rates in the general population range from 1–4% for anorexia nervosa, 4–7% for bulimia nervosa and 2–3.5% for binge eating disorder. The overall incidence and prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa is stabilising in Western countries, but increasingly younger people are being affected.

Eating disorders can have major psychological, physical and social sequelae with poor quality of life, high health burden and a high burden on families and other carers. The adverse physical consequences of dieting, weight loss and purging behaviours can sometimes prove fatal and anorexia nervosa has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric disorder. Less is known about the mortality rates of bulimia nervosa and atypical eating disorders, although evidence suggests that rates may be as high as that of anorexia nervosa.

In this CPD eLearning module you will learn about the risk factors associated with eating disorders, as well as the principles of treatment for adults with eating disorders, including physical risk management.