Children with autistic traits more likely to develop an eating disorder, suggests study

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Children with autistic traits are more likely to develop an eating disorder in adolescence, a new study suggests. Researchers at University College London found that children who displayed more autistic traits aged seven were 24 per cent more likely than their peers to have weekly disordered eating behaviours at age 14. Dr Francesca Solmi, of UCL psychiatry department and lead author on the study, said: "We have found that young children with autistic traits at age seven are more likely than their peers to end up developing eating disorder symptoms in adolescence. "Most other studies looked at snapshots in time, rather than tracking people over multiple years, so it wasn't clear whether autism increases the risk of eating disorders, or if symptoms of eating disorder could sometimes resemble autistic traits."