Anorexia threatens "spring" children

Scientists from Oxford University found that children who were born in the spring are more at risk of developing anorexia nervosa than those who were born in the fall.

The report, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, says the causes could be varied: seasonal changes in temperature, exposure to sunlight, a cold infection, or the mother's diet during pregnancy. However, not all researchers tend to share this opinion: according to them, there are a number of other factors, according to the BBC.

Experts analyzed data on 1293 patients with this disorder and found that most of them were born between March and June. Least of all in this group were those born in September and October.

“Previous work on disorders has shown that diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (characterized by cyclical disturbances in mood, cognition and behavior) and depression are most common among those born in the spring, so our finding regarding anorexia was not surprising. ", - says the Head of the study, Dr. Lahiru Handunetti.

The reason for this connection cannot yet be explained, however, according to L. Handunetti, further research will help uncover this mystery. As the authors note, the seasonal nature of anorexia is also confirmed by other studies, which show that the development of eating disorders in a person is associated with the time of year in which he was born. "Identification of risk factors will help us understand and possibly even prevent the disease in the future," says L. Handunetti.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by intentional weight loss, caused and maintained by the patient himself, in order to lose weight or to prevent weight gain. The patient has a distorted perception of their physical form and there is a concern about weight gain, even if this is not actually observed.

The overall prevalence of anorexia nervosa is 1.2% in women and 0.29% in men. About 90% of patients with anorexia are girls aged 12-24 years.

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