Comorbidity of Type 1 Diabetes and Anorexia Nervosa in a 6-Year-Old Girl
- Adriana Franzese, MD1,
- Giuliana Valerio, MD, PHD2,
- Pietro Buono, MD2,
- Enza Mozzillo, MD1,
- Anotonella Gritti, MD3 and
- Maria Antonietta Lucariello, MD3
- 1Department of Pediatrics, University “Federico II,” Naples, Italy
- 2Department of Experimental and Clinical Pathology and Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
- 3Cattedra di Neuropsichiatria Infantile, Second University of Naples (SUN), Naples, Italy
A high prevalence of eating disorders has been described in female adolescents with type 1 diabetes as being almost twice as high as that found in their nondiabetic peers (1–3). Weight gain caused by insulin therapy, dietary restraint, and food preoccupation may predispose diabetic girls to develop a clinical or subclinical eating disorder (4–6); intentional insulin omission is the most common symptom underlying an eating disorder (7). The coexistence of these conditions could lead to poor metabolic control and increase the risk of microvascular complications (8).
Very few reports have been published on eating disorders in childhood (9,10), and in only one report this condition was also described in diabetic children, starting from the age of 8 years (4). We describe the successful treatment of a 6-year-old girl with comorbid type 1 diabetes and anorexia nervosa. This case underlines that children with diabetes, as well as adolescents, may be prone to …
