🧠 Overeating in young girls: a precursor to mental disorders

Girls who regularly overeat during preschool age are more likely to suffer from anxiety, impulsivity and hyperactivity during adolescence, according to research conducted by a team from McGill University and the Douglas Research Centre.

For their study, the scientific team analyzed the eating habits of more than 2,000 young children reported by parents and guardians as part of a Quebec survey, then assessed the mental health symptoms of these same children at age 15. The results show a link between overeating and subsequent difficulties in girls, but not in boys.


Key takeaways for parents While the findings indicate that children's eating habits can be warning signs of mental health disorders, the team nevertheless emphasizes that the study only reports the existence of links, not that certain eating habits would inevitably lead to mental health disorders.

"It's normal for children to overeat from time to time, but frequent excesses can be a sign of emotional disorders," explains Linda Booij, lead author, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University and clinician-researcher for the Eating Disorders Continuum and the Douglas Research Centre.

"The solution is not restriction. In fact, overly strict monitoring can worsen the situation and even increase the risk of eating disorders," she specifies. "Parents and guardians should instead focus on the child's emotional well-being."

Why girls and not boys? According to Linda Booij, sociocultural factors could be partly responsible for the differences between girls and boys.

"It's possible that parents monitor girls' eating more closely than boys', and that restrictive environments are linked to an increased risk of developing eating disorders later. Thus, the social context surrounding girls' eating habits would explain, to some extent, the link between overeating and difficulties later in life," she indicates.

The researchers identified three profiles among children: approximately 60% showed no signs of overeating, about 14% began overeating between ages two and four, and about 26% started later, around age four.

Girls who began eating excessively during childhood (whether earlier or later) were more likely to show symptoms of disorders such as anxiety, hyperactivity and impulsivity at age 15.

Food selectivity The picture is quite different when it comes to food selectivity. Approximately one third of children were selective in their eating during early childhood, and these habits tended to persist throughout childhood. However, the data show no link with mental health disorders during adolescence.

Food selectivity is often a source of concern for parents, but Professor Booij reminds us that it's a common developmental stage that doesn't necessarily mean the child will later develop emotional or behavioral problems. However, if food selectivity persists over time or begins to harm the child's growth, nutrition, emotional balance or daily functioning, this could be a sign of a more serious problem.

The study The article "Trajectories of childhood eating behaviors and their association with internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence," by Rachel Dufour (Concordia University) and Linda Booij et al., was published in the journal BMC Pediatrics.

This study was funded by the Institut de la statistique du Québec, the Quebec ministries of Health, Education and Family, the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, the Robert-Sauvé Research Institute in Occupational Health and Safety (IRSST), the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé and the Fonds de recherche du Québec Société et Culture, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Centre.