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Intersection between Eating Disorders and Obesity in Youth: Implications for Treatment
Alyssa M Button1, Alicia Persaud2, Anna B Tanner3
1Departments of Psychiatry & Pediatrics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. alyssa.button@vcuhealth.org.
Current Obesity Reports
|October 14, 2025
Summary
Adolescents with obesity face higher risks for eating disorders, necessitating early identification and integrated treatment. Prompt assessment of disordered eating symptoms is crucial for effective management and improved health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Obesity Medicine
Background:
- Eating disorders (EDs) affect individuals across all body sizes and require timely identification and treatment.
- Adolescents with obesity are at increased risk for disordered eating behaviors and associated mental and physical health issues.
- Despite shared risk factors, adolescents with obesity and EDs are underrepresented in research and often undiagnosed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review considerations for behavioral, pharmacological, and surgical obesity treatments in the context of eating disorder risk.
- To highlight the importance of identifying and managing ED symptoms in youth with obesity.
- To summarize current evidence and gaps in treating comorbid obesity and EDs in adolescents.
Main Methods:
- This is a review summarizing existing literature on obesity treatment modalities and eating disorder risk in adolescents.
- The review synthesizes findings from studies on behavioral interventions, pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery for obesity.
- It also examines the prevalence and impact of disordered eating symptoms in this population.
Main Results:
- Evidence supports lifestyle interventions for reducing subclinical disordered eating attitudes and behaviors.
- Bariatric surgery shows emerging benefits for reducing subclinical disordered eating behaviors like loss-of-control eating.
- There is a lack of data on ED screening in pharmacological obesity trials, emphasizing the need for continuous psychosocial monitoring.
- Validated measures exist to detect disordered eating symptoms in higher-weight youth.
Conclusions:
- Early detection of ED symptoms in adolescents seeking obesity treatment is critical for integrated care planning.
- Assessing for ED symptoms is vital to inform treatment approaches, whether simultaneous, sequential, or within specialty care.
- Adolescents with obesity require vigilant monitoring for EDs to mitigate risks and improve overall health outcomes.
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