A comprehensive study in Bradford uncovers widespread eating disorder symptoms among young people, with notable differences linked to gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, prompting calls for tailored prevention and early intervention in schools.
A large Bradford study has found that eating disorder symptoms are common among adolescents and that the burden is not evenly shared across sex, ethnicity, deprivation and gender identity. The research, published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, used data from the Born in Bradford Age of Wonder cohort, which follows secondary school pupils in one of the UK’s most ethnically diverse cities and includes a high proportion of young people living in deprived neighbourhoods.
The study drew on survey responses from 7,434 pupils aged about 13 and 14 who completed a validated screening questionnaire on eating disorder symptoms during the 2023-24 school year. Overall, 9.5% scored above the threshold the researchers used to flag elevated symptoms, a level they said was broadly in line with, though slightly below, recent national estimates. Weight and shape dissatisfaction was the most common concern, while purging behaviours were the least frequently reported.
Girls were far more likely than boys to register elevated symptoms, but the figures for boys were still substantial. The researchers also found that adolescents identifying as gender diverse had markedly higher symptom scores than cisgender peers, underlining the vulnerability of young people whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth. The pattern suggests that eating disorder risk in teenagers cannot be understood through a simple male-female divide.
Ethnicity produced different patterns in boys and girls. Among girls, White pupils generally reported the highest symptom levels, while Asian and Black girls tended to score lower on the questionnaire. Among boys, however, the picture was reversed: Asian, Black and other ethnic minority boys reported more symptoms than White boys, particularly on behavioural items such as dietary restriction, fasting and episodes of loss of control eating. The authors said this was a novel finding in the UK and one that warrants further investigation.
Deprivation also mattered. Adolescents living in the most deprived areas of Bradford had higher eating disorder symptom scores than those in the least deprived areas, even after accounting for ethnicity. The association was especially clear for behavioural symptoms. The researchers noted that this runs counter to the common assumption, drawn from clinical records, that eating disorders are mainly concentrated among more affluent patients. They argued that differences in help-seeking and access to care may help explain that mismatch.
The findings add to growing evidence that eating disorder symptoms can emerge early and are already widespread by early adolescence. Because the questionnaire used in the study is a screening tool rather than a diagnostic test, the results do not mean that nearly one in 10 teenagers had a formal eating disorder. But the authors say the data point to a meaningful level of need, especially among boys, gender diverse adolescents, ethnic minority boys and young people in deprived areas. They suggest schools may be an important setting for spotting problems earlier and for designing prevention efforts that better reflect the realities of diverse young people’s lives.
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