A two-year study of eating behaviors and attitudes to eating, dieting and body image in pre-adolescent Swedish girls

The study is a two-year follow-up of 50 8-year-old girls who were interviewed about their attitudes to dieting, eating behaviors and body image. The results indicate that repeated dieting attempts reported by young children are accompanied by elevated symptoms of disturbed eating behaviors. Assessment of dieting behaviors and eating disturbances in young children in longitudinal studies may be one step towards mapping risk factors for developing eating disorders as well as allowing us to obtain knowledge of their etiology