A recent study indicates there may be a link between financial stress and eating disorders among young women. Four hundred undergraduate women were questioned about their financial situation and food. The EAT (Eating Attitudes Test) was used to spot eating disorder symptoms.
The study, reported on by Fox Health, discovered that women from a lower financially affluent family background typically had a higher EAT score, indicating that women with greater financial stress may have more eating disorder issues.
Thomas Richardson, lead author of the study and a clinical psychologist at Southampton University concluded:
It may be that those at higher risk of having an eating disorder feel like they have no control over events in their life, such as their financial situation, and they may then restrict their eating as a way of exercising control in other areas of their life.
To learn more details about this test, read here.