The Link Between Special Diets as Treatment for Adolescent IBD and Eating Disorders

Abstract

IBD stands for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, an umbrella term for a group of inflammatory conditions that chronically affect the digestive tract (Grigorescu et al., 2023). Previous research has found a link between Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and concurrent diagnoses of eating disorders. The interest and objective of this research study were stimulated by this finding from pre-existing literature: to assess the degree to which special dieting for the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in adolescents affects the development of an eating disorder. Three methodology tools were employed to assess the prevalence of eating disorders amongst this population: a meta-analysis, a pre-validated quantitative questionnaire, and qualitative interviews. It was concluded that eating disorders aren’t strongly associated with special diets for the treatment of adolescent IBD patients. It was additionally concluded that patients individually choose special dieting as their treatment plan and thus are more resilient to eating behavior changes.