Type 1 and Eating Disorders

By Quinn Phillips Eating disorders are, sadly, a fact of life among teenagers in the United States. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, more than half of all teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys engage in unhealthy behaviors (skipping meals, vomiting, taking laxatives) to control their weight, and 1% of female adolescents have anorexia, characterized by an extremely distorted body image and emaciation. During this often difficult phase in life, having Type 1 diabetes presents unique challenges, as a study published last month in the journal Diabetes Care makes clear. While children and teens with diabetes may not be any more likely than other young people to engage in unhealthy behaviors, the shape that these behaviors take is often different. The study, conducted at Oslo University Hospital in Norway, examined 770 young people between the ages of 11 and 19 who completed a survey called the Diabetes Eating Problem Survey–Revised (DEPS-R). Participants, divided roughly equally between males and females, had Type 1 diabetes for an average duration of 5.3 years; 56% used an insulin pump, and most of the others took at least four insulin injections each day. According to an article on the study at Medscape Medical News, the survey used in the study was developed to account for the unique situation that diabetes presents when it comes to evaluating eating behaviors. For example, among surveys designed to check for...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs