Eating disorders in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. A closer look at a complicated condition

The cultural drive to be thin can lead to eating disorders in many women and girls. In adolescent females with diabetes, the increased focus on eating and the weight gain associated with good glycemic control likely increase their susceptibility to abnormal eating. It is clear that nonspecified and subthreshold eating disorders, and possibly bulimia and anorexia, are more common in this group of patients. Good nutritional counseling to help patients avoid weight gain and family counseling to improve communication between patients and their families may help decrease this risk. Intentional insulin omission is a frequent means of preventing weight gain or increasing weight loss in adolescent females with type 1 diabetes. Eating disorders should be suspected in patients with recurrent diabetic ketoacidosis or poor glycemic control that is resistant to attempts at improvement. Treatment includes decreasing dietary restraint, promoting healthy eating, and either psychiatric counseling or psychologic intervention, or both.