Disordered eating behaviors in youths with type 1 diabetes during COVID-19 lockdown: an exploratory study
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(2020) 8:76
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Disordered eating behaviors in youths with type 1 diabetes during COVID-19 lockdown: an exploratory study Alda Troncone1,2* , Antonietta Chianese1,2, Angela Zanfardino1,3, Crescenzo Cascella1,2, Alessia Piscopo1,3, Anna Borriello1,2, Serena Rollato1,3, Francesca Casaburo1,3, Veronica Testa1,3 and Dario Iafusco1,3
Abstract Background: Recent research indicates that patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at higher risk for disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) than their peers without diabetes. The present study aimed to explore the prevalence of DEBs in a sample of Italian children and adolescents with T1D and in matched-pair healthy controls during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 138 children and adolescents with T1D (aged 8.01–19.11 years, 65 boys) attending a Southern Italian diabetic service and 276 age- and gender-matched healthy peers voluntarily completed an online survey about eating behaviors (ChEAT and EAT-26), anthropometric characteristics, and clinical characteristics. Results: 8.69% (N = 12) of participants with T1D and 13.4% (N = 37) of controls had ChEAT/EAT-26 scores indicating presence of DEBs, with no differences between patients—whether children (total ChEAT score F(1, 157) = .104, p = .748) or adolescents (total EAT-26 score F(1, 255) = .135, p = .731)—and healthy peers. zBMI values were lower than those measured in the latest diabetes visit (p < .0001), while HbA1c values remained unchanged (p = .110). In both groups, adolescents had lower Oral Control scores than children (T1D: F(1, 138) = 20.411, p < .0001, η2 = .132, controls: F(1, 276) = 18.271, p < .0001, η2 = .063); additionally, gender (female) and age were found to be significant predictors of several ChEAT/EAT-26 scores. Conclusions: This exploratory study suggested that children and adolescents with T1D did not experience more DEB symptoms during the COVID-19 lockdown compared to healthy controls. Results revealed DEBs as more of a female adolescent developmental issue rather than a result of the challenges of living with a chronic illness under quarantine measures. Possible effects of parental pressure on their children’s eating behaviors in the context of home confinement and of using a non-diabetes-specific measure to assess DEBs are discussed. Keywords: Type 1 diabetes, Children, Adolescents, Disordered eating behaviors, COVID-19
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Caserta, Italy 2 Department of Psychology, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Viale Ellittico 31, Caserta, Italy Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicat
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