Prevalence of Eating Disorders and Associated Factors in Adolescents from a School in Lima, Peru

Grados E.; Neyra-Rivera C.D.; Gutierrez E.L. · Revista Espanola de Nutricion Comunitaria (2025)

Resumen

Background: Eating disorders are positioned as a priority within mental illnesses in children and adolescents by the World Health Organization (WHO). The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of eating disorders and associated factors in adolescents in the fourth and fifth year of high school in a school in Lima, Peru. Methods: A cross-sectional, analytical, descriptive study was carried out on a group of 151 adolescents in the fourth and fifth year of high school from a school located in La Molina (Lima, Peru) who were given a self-administered questionnaire with questions aimed at assessing attitudes towards food (EAT-26) and risk factors. Results: 14.6% of students had positive scores on the test (≥20), the most representative groups with positive results were women (59.1%) with an age between 16 and 18 years (68.2%), based on academic performance 54.5% were within the middle third, 90.9% had a weight below or within normal for their height and 63.6% had some level of family dysfunction. Conclusions: A prevalence of Eating Disorders (ED) was determined similar to previous studies conducted in Peru. No statistically significant association was found between the prevalence of ED and the associated factors studied.

Instituciones: Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola; Universidad Tecnológica del Perú