PREVALENCE OF EATING DISORDERS IN A PEDIATRIC POPULATION IN THE EASTERN REGION OF MOROCCO

Biopsychosocial diseases, particularly eating disorders (EDs), are increasingly prevalent and involve different body systems and individual aspects as well as their social relationships. This study aims at finding out the extent to which eating disorders are prevalent in a population and enumerating any factors-related.The survey is cross-sectional carried out on a sample of 520 children. A self-administeredquestionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, and dietary habits was used. Screening for EDs was performed using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and the EDY-Q (Eating Disorders in Youth-Questionnaire). These tools detected an EDs prevalence of 19% in our study, with children at risk of EDs. The average age of the children was 13 years, with minimum being 7 years while maximum was 17 years old.77.5% were girls. In the sample, the most affected age group was 13 to 17 years, with the majority coming from families with more than one child (91%). Among these children, 47% were impacted by a family event, and 58% had excessive media exposure. Additionally, 47% expressedconcerns about their body image, with the majority being girls (36%). Furthermore, a quarter of the children experienced school bullying, and 39% suffered from study-related stress. The susceptibility to present an anorexia nervosa was noted in 22% of cases, bulimia in 13%, and pica in 19%.