Notes

Eating disorders show a chronic course and result in significant functional impairment, emotional distress, and medical problems. In their studies, they were implied to answer when these risk factors emerge and escalate, or when they begin to predict future eating disorder onset. The objective of this report was to address these key research gaps. A cross sectional retrospective epidemiological study sug gested that approximately 7.5% of young women meet criteria for a eating disorder of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder (BED).1 A recent examination of the natu ral history of DSM-5 eating disorders5 in a commu nity sample of 496 female adolescents who completed annual diagnostic interviews over an 8- year period found that 13% of participants experienced some form of threshold or subthreshold eat ing disorder by age 20, with the peak age of onset for bulimia nervosa and BED being 17–18 years of age and 18–20 for purging disorder.6 Retrospective data suggest a median age of onset (with interquar tile range) of 18 years (16–22) for anorexia nervosa, 18 years (14–22) for bulimia nervosa, and 21 years (17–32) for BED among community-recruited adults.1