Mind the gap - A brief echo and some contributions from eating disorder experts from other European countries.

Recently, Davey et al. (2023) outlined several recommendations for future care, policy and research for patients with eating disorders which is primarily focused on the UK health care system. Our commentary aims at contributing several aspects from other European countries and emphasises the need for stronger European collaboration, joint initiatives and a strategic plan to foster clinical and research concepts in the eating disorder field, especially in a time of multiple (global) crises and restricted resources.

Misalignment among adolescents living with obesity, caregivers, and healthcare professionals: ACTION Teens global survey study.

Background: There is limited evidence regarding the experiences, challenges, and needs of adolescents living with obesity (ALwO), their caregivers, and healthcare professionals (HCPs).

Objectives: The cross-sectional, survey-based global ACTION Teens study aimed to identify perceptions, attitudes, behaviours, and barriers to effective obesity care among ALwO, caregivers of ALwO, and HCPs.

Methods: ALwO (aged 12 to <18 years; N = 5275), caregivers (N = 5389), and HCPs treating ALwO (N = 2323) from 10 countries completed an online survey (August-December 2021).

Optimising care pathways for adult anorexia nervosa. What is the evidence to guide the provision of high-quality, cost-effective services?

The aim of this paper is to consider how changes in service planning and delivery might improve the care pathways for adult anorexia nervosa. Although anorexia nervosa has a long history in Europe, its framing as a mental disorder is quite recent. The changing forms and increasing epidemiology of eating disorders has led to the expansion of specialised services.

Drive for thinness provides an alternative, more meaningful, severity indicator than the DSM-5 severity indices for eating disorders.

Objective: To assess an alternative trans-diagnostic indicator for severity based on drive for thinness (DT) for anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge-eating disorder (BED), and other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED), and to compare this new approach to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) severity categories for EDs.

Method: A total of 2,811 ED [428 AN-restrictive (AN-R), 313 AN-binge purging (AN-BP), 1,340 BN, 329 BED, 154 OSFED/atypical AN (AT), and 223 OSFED/purging disorder (PD)] patients were classified using: (a) The DSM-5 severity categories and (b) a DT categorisation. These severity classifications were then compared based on ED symptoms, general psychopathology, personality, and impulsive behaviours.

Effectiveness and influencing factors of online education for caregivers of patients with eating disorders during COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Objective: The goals were twofold: To estimate the depression and anxiety levels among caregivers of patients with eating disorders (ED) in China during the COVID-19 pandemic when compared with a control group, and to assess whether an online education program was effective in decreasing the anxiety and depression of the caregivers of patients with ED, and associated factors.

Method: Caregivers of patients with ED (n = 254) and a comparison group of non-ED caregivers (N = 254) were recruited at baseline. Additionally, caregivers of patients with ED were invited into a free 4-week online education program, with an additional online group as support.

Genome-wide association study identifies eight risk loci and implicates metabo-psychiatric origins for anorexia nervosa.

Characterized primarily by a low body-mass index, anorexia nervosa is a complex and serious illness, affecting 0.9-4% of women and 0.3% of men, with twin-based heritability estimates of 50-60%.

Testing virtual reality-based cue-exposure software: Which cue-elicited responses best discriminate between patients with eating disorders and healthy controls?

Purpose: Virtual reality (VR) technologies have been proposed as a new tool able to improve on in vivo exposure in patients with eating disorders. This study assessed the validity of a VR-based software for cue exposure therapy (CET) in people with bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED).

Methods: Fifty eight outpatients (33 BN and 25 BED) and 135 healthy participants were exposed to 10 craved virtual foods and a neutral cue in four experimental virtual environments (kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and cafeteria).

Trait and State Craving as Indicators of Validity of VR-based Software for Binge Eating Treatment.

The aim of this study was to establish whether virtual reality (VR) exposure to food cues is able to produce craving levels consistent with state-craving and trait-craving as assessed by the Spanish and Italian versions of the State and Trait Food Craving Questionnaires (FCQ-T/S). The results were compared in 40 patients with eating disorders (17 with binge eating disorder, 23 with bulimia nervosa) and 78 healthy control subjects without eating disorders. Controls and patients with higher levels of trait-craving and state-craving both showed a greater desire to eat during VR exposure.