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[Can we prevent eating disorders?]
Jan H Rosenvinge1, Runi Børresen
1Institutt for psykologi, Universitetet i Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø. janr@psyk.uit.no
Summary
Preventing eating disorders has shown disappointing results due to flawed methods. Promising strategies involve community-based programs and addressing body dissatisfaction to reduce risks.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Behavioral Science
Context:
- Eating disorders represent a significant public health concern with limited success in prevention.
- Existing preventive strategies often suffer from methodological flaws and imprecise outcome measures.
Purpose:
- To review empirical findings on the prevention of eating disorders.
- To identify limitations in current approaches and highlight promising future directions.
Summary:
- Current evidence indicates a lack of major, lasting effects from existing eating disorder prevention programs.
- Methodological weaknesses, program design errors, and unrealistic outcome measures contribute to these disappointing results.
- Promising developments include universal strategies informed by behavioral change principles and community-involved programs.
Impact:
- Suggests a shift from solely preventing eating disorders to modifying the culture of body dissatisfaction.
- Proposes integrating prevention efforts with obesity prevention to avoid conflicting public health messages.
- Highlights the need for more robust, ecologically-informed approaches to eating disorder prevention.