A new study of Irish teenagers has shown that teenage girls are more likely to engage in bulimia rather than dieting to reduce their weight.
It is the first time that this finding has surfaced so the researchers do not yet know if it is unique to Ireland or to the particular group of those questioned with eating problems.
The study carried out by the Lucena Foundation and UCD Department of Child Psychiatry found that one in ten Irish teenage girls has an eating disorder.
The research also found that teenagers whose parents have issues around their own body image are more likely to have problems themselves.
The influence of the media on teenagers was affirmed by the study, which found that those most vulnerable to eating disorders felt under the most pressure to achieve a small body shape.
This national representative study questioned 3,000 Irish teenagers about eating concerns and included those who have eating disorders.
About 11% of the girls interviewed scored in the pathological range on one of the standardised eating questionnaires.
Apart from eating concerns, those suffering from eating disorders are also shown to be significantly more affected by lower quality of life. They also tend to consider themselves not as popular as their peers, do not as well academically and rate their mood to be less good than their peers.
