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Weight Suppression in Eating Disorders: a Research and Conceptual Update
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Weight Suppression in Eating Disorders: a Research and Conceptual Update

Michael R Lowe, Amani D Piers and Leora Benson
Current psychiatry reports, v 20(10)
28 Aug 2018
PMID: 30155651

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa Dieting Bulimia nervosa Weight suppression Weight loss BMI
Weight suppression, the discrepancy between an individual's highest past weight at adult height and his or her current weight, is related to many characteristics of individuals with eating disorders. This paper reviews research findings from the past 5 years, draws several implications regarding the mechanism underlying these effects, and proposes new approaches to measuring weight suppression. Studies were reviewed under the categories of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and mixed or miscellaneous samples, with more studies falling into the last category than in the first two. Recent findings have continued to show that weight suppression is related to a wide variety of biological and behavioral features in both diagnosed and sub-clinical samples. Weight suppression promotes weight gain which is anathema to individuals with eating disorders, putting them in a biobehavioral bind that appears to prolong their disorder. Priorities for future research are to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of weight suppression, evaluate new ways of defining weight suppression, and study its implications for modifying treatment.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#5 Gender Equality
#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Web of Science research areas
Psychiatry
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