There is no denying the fact that a healthy body hinges on healthy eating habits. Undereating or overeating may turn out to be eating disorders that can prove to have serious impact on one's overall health. According to a recent study, published in the 'Journal of Adolescent Health', children who find themselves in the transgender and non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual categories are more likely to have eating disorders. About 289,024 students from 223 US universities participated in a survey, wherein rates of self-reported eating disorders were the highest among transgender people and heterosexual men had the lowest rates. Among all the participants, 268,066 students self-identified themselves as heterosexual, 5,057 as unsure, 15,422 as bisexual, lesbian or gay, and 479 as transgender.
"Transgender people were more likely to report a diagnosis of an eating disorder -- bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa -- in the past year," said senior author Alexis Duncan, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Brown School.
"They also reported using vomiting, laxatives or diet pills more for weight control in the past 30 days than cisgender men and women, regardless of their sexual orientation," added Duncan.
Compared to cisgender heterosexual women, transgender students were found to have significantly greater odds of past-month vomiting or laxative use, past-year eating disorder diagnosis, and past-month diet pill use. Other than this, transgender participants also were significantly more likely to report past-year eating disorder diagnosis and past-month compensatory behaviours than members of any other group, including cisgender sexual minorities.