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Adolescent pregnancy and eating disorders: a minireview and case report
Megan E Harrison1,2,3, Bannuya Balasubramanaiam4, Amy Robinson5
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. mharrison@cheo.on.ca.
Background:
Despite the fact that eating disorders (EDs) during pregnancy and early child bearing can both individually increase risk to mother and child, there is a paucity of research exploring pregnancy in adolescence and concomitant EDs.
Case:
We report the case of a 16-year-old female with atypical anorexia nervosa, who experiences a remission of her ED behavior during pregnancy, followed by a severe relapse in the post-partum period.
Conclusion:
In this case, pregnancy functioned as a motivator for remission in our patient with concomitant ED. Further research is needed to identify risks of EDs in adolescent pregnancy, to explore the trajectory of pre-existing EDs during pregnancy and to identify effective interventions for prolonging remission into the post-partum period.