Eating disorders and anxiety - a review of the research

A review of studies into the links between eating disorders and anxiety has found that anxiety disorders are significantly more frequent in people with eating disorders than in the general community. Studies also show that anxiety disorders pre-date eating disorders leading to a suggestion that childhood anxiety might predispose people to developing eating disorders. The authors of the study say that the research to date presents 'strikingly inconsistent' findings complicating the understanding of the links between the conditions. While there has been a fair amount of research into the anxiety problems of people with eating disorders there has been little research into the early identification of potential eating disorders in people seeing professionals for anxiety problems.

Swinbourne, Jessica M. and Touyz, Stephen W. - The co-morbidity of eating disorders and anxiety disorders : a review European Eating Disorders Review July-August 2007, 15(3), 253-274