More than half of 23-year-olds in a European study show restrictive, emotional or uncontrolled eating behaviors, according to new research led by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London. Structural brain differences appear to play a role in the development of these eating habits.
The study, published in Nature Mental Health, investigates the links between genetics, brain structure and disordered eating behaviors in young people. Researchers found that the process of ‘brain maturation’, whereby the volume and thickness of the cortex (the outer layer of the brain) decreases during adolescence, is a factor in whether teenagers develop restrictive or emotional/uncontrolled eating behaviors in young adulthood.
Restrictive eating behaviors, such as dieting and…