Background: Dysphagia is a highly prevalent condition and affects a wide range of cohorts. A common compensatory strategy to manage dysphagia is diet modification. However, this technique is often associated with poor patient quality of life and adverse long-term effects. Carbonated liquids have shown promise as an alternative compensatory…

This study investigated the association between autism and self-reported eating problems and the influence of gender on the association, in a sample of adolescent and adult twins (N = 192). Autistic traits and autism diagnosis were associated with both total and specific eating problems, including selective eating and sensory sensitivity during…

Anorexia nervosa is a complex behavioral disorder with the highest risk of death of any psychological disorder. Between 15% and 20% of those suffering from anorexia die from complications that are attributed either directly or indirectly to self-starvation. Heritability for anorexia is around 0.5, meaning about 50% of the risk for anorexia is…

Body dissatisfaction is a significant mental health symptom present in adolescent girls and boys. However, it is often either disregarded in adolescent boys or examined using assessments that may not resonate with males. The present study addresses these issues, examining the manifestation, etiology, and correlates of 3 facets of body…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to empirically derive eating disorder phenotypes in a clinical sample of children and adolescents using latent profile analysis (LPA), and to compare these latent profile (LP) groups to the DSM-IV-TR eating disorder categories. Method: Eating disorder symptom data collected from 401 youth (aged 7 through 19…

Children with genetic syndromes frequently have feeding problems and swallowing dysfunction as a result of the complex interactions between anatomical, medical, physiological, and behavioral factors. Feeding problems associated with genetic disorders may also cause feeding to be unpleasant, negative, or even painful because of choking, coughing,…

Background: Research into the excessive eating behaviour associated with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) to date has focused on homeostatic and behavioural investigations. The aim of this study was to examine the role of the reward system in such eating behaviour, in terms of both the pattern of food preferences and the neural substrates of incentive…

Objective: We investigated the role of genetic and environmental factors in the developmental association among symptoms of eating disorders, depression, and anxiety syndromes in 8-13-year-old and 14-17-year-old twin girls. Methods: Multivariate genetic models were fitted to child-reported longitudinal symptom data gathered from clinical interview…