Prenatal and Perinatal Factors in Eating Disorders

Raevuori et al. (2014) acknowledge conflicting evidence from different studies on the magnitude of prenatal and perinatal factors on children's eating disorders. The authors illustrate how different scenarios can demonstrate the effect of eating disorders, keeping in mind other risk factors such as genetics, biological, and environmental factors. While the subject may appear more complex, Raevuori et al. structure their review findings in a consolidated manner for easy follow-up. With the authors acknowledging that more studies need to be undertaken to ascertain the risk factors of both the perinatal and prenatal exposures, they open the door for the audience to dwell deeper into the topic and conduct further research. A review of previous studies on the topic allows the authors to collect accumulative evidence and the audience to understand the diverse conflicts and associations as denoted in the review findings.

It is significant to understand that Raevuori et al. are not persuading the readers to take a stand on the prenatal and perinatal effects of eating disorders on offspring. Rather, the authors are pointing out the likelihood of such associations, whether small or big. For instance, Raevuori et al. note that one study indicated a 3.6% association of prenatal factors to eating disorders' total risk factors, highlighting the relatively small effect on offspring. Ultimately, the authors caution that varying outcomes on the effects of prenatal and perinatal exposures depend on the combination of other risk factors present. The article calls for more consideration to be placed on future studies since not all prenatal risk factors are causal. Moreover, genetic compounding should be controlled in future studies since only two studies, as noted by the authors, took note of that. Genetically sensitive designs can mitigate the causal limitations of past studies.

Reference 

Raevuori, A., Linna, M. S., & Keski-Rahkonen, A. (2014). Prenatal and perinatal factors in eating disorders: A descriptive review.  International Journal of Eating Disorders ,  47 (7), 676-685.  https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22323