Epidemiology and aetiology of eating disorders

This contribution reviews the epidemiology and aetiology of the eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. These disorders are generally thought of as multi-factorial in nature. In recent years interest has shifted from predominantly psychosocial models to the biology of these disorders, in particular genetic factors. Researchers have also begun to develop a taxonomy of risk factors and to unravel the specificity and potency of different biological and psychosocial risk-factors and the interaction between these factors.