Eating Disorders

This evidence repository is a collection of best available resources and evidence collated by a knowledge synthesis team at Alberta Research for Health Evidence (ARCHE) and the clinical content team.

The knowledge synthesis team utilizes a pyramid-shaped framework, built upon the “4S” hierarchy of evidence model, to provide detailed evidence appropriate to meet stakeholders’ needs. They search a combination of databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, TRIP Database) and web-based search engines (Google, Google Scholar) to locate evidence for the knowledge pyramids. Publication types sought in the initial topic searches are organized into five levels that determine the order in which resources are presented:

1. Bottom Line Recommendations
2. Clinical Practice Guidelines and Pathways
3. Overviews and Summaries of Systematic Reviews
4. Systematic Reviews
5. Key Studies

Where applicable resources for families and parents are also listed.

The knowledge synthesis team collaborates with the clinical content team to select the most relevant guidelines, reviews, and key studies, which can be found below. This evidence repository is not intended to be an exhaustive list of resources for a topic, but rather a curated list of current, evidence-based resources, based on expert consensus of relevance and usability for a general emergency department setting. Every effort is made to identify resources that are open access (i.e. publicly available, free of charge, not requiring a subscription).

More information about the creation of our evidence repositories can be found here.

Thank you to the following clinical content experts and Knowledge Synthesis team who led the development of this evidence repository.

Jennifer Turnbull, MD, FRCPC; Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, McGill University Health Centre; Co-Director, McGill Global Child Health Program, Montreal Children’s Hospital

Roiya Farhan, MD, Pediatric Emergency Fellow, McGill University, Montreal Children’s Hospital

Megan Cooney, MD, FRCPC; Division of Adolescent Medicine, HSC Winnipeg Children’s Hospital

Holly Agostino, MD, FRCPC; Associate Professor Pediatrics, McGill University; Eating Disorder Program Director, Division of  Adolescent Medicine, Montreal Children’s Hospital

Liza Bialy, BSc, MPH, Knowledge Synthesis Project Coordinator, Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence, Department of  Pediatrics, University of Alberta

Sarah Elliott, PhD, Assistant Director, Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence, Department of Pediatrics, University of  Alberta

TREKK developed resources for healthcare providers and parents & families can be found here.

1. Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Medical management of restrictive eating disorders in adolescents and young adults. J Adolesc Health. 2022.
2. National Institute for Health Care Excellence. Eating disorders: Recognition and treatment 2020.
3. Couturier J, Isserlin L, Norris M, et al. Canadian practice guidelines for the treatment of children and adolescents with eating disorders. J Eat Disord. 2020 Feb 1;8:4. doi: 10.1186/s40337-020- 0277-8.
4. Findlay S PJ, Taddeo D, Katzman DK; Canadian Paediatric Society, Adolescent Health Committee. Family-based treatment of children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa: Guidelines for the community physician: Reaffirmed: Feb 28, 2018; 2010.
5. Hay P, Chinn D, Forbes D, et al. Royal Australian and New Zealand college of psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of eating disorders. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2014;48(11):977- 1008.
6. Ressel GW. AAP releases policy statement on identifying and treating eating disorders. Am Fam Physician. 2003;67(10):2224, 6.

1. Dietitians of Canada. WHO Growth Charts for Canada. 2023
2. Hornberger LL, Lane MA. Identification and management of eating disorders in children and adolescents. Pediatrics. 2021;147(1).
3. Hay P. Current approach to eating disorders: A clinical update. Intern Med J. 2020;50(1):24-9.
4. Academy for Eating Disorders. Eating disorders in the emergency department. 2020.
5. Canadian Eating Disorders Alliance. Canadian eating disorders strategy: 2019 – 2029. 2019.
6. Lock J, La Via MC. Practice parameter for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with eating disorders. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2015;54(5):412-25.

1. Tanner AB. Unique considerations for the medical care of restrictive eating disorders in children and young adolescents. J Eat Disord. 2023;11(1):33.
2. Mehler PS, Anderson K, Bauschka M, et al. Emergency room presentations of people with anorexia nervosa. J Eat Disord. 2023;11(1):16.
3. Friars D, Walsh O, McNicholas F. Assessment and management of cardiovascular complications in eating disorders. J Eat Disord. 2023;11(1):13.
4. Barakat S, McLean SA, Bryant E, et al. Risk factors for eating disorders: Findings from a rapid review. J Eat Disord. 2023;11(1):8.
5. Nicula M, Pellegrini D, Grennan L, et al. Help-seeking attitudes and behaviours among youth with eating disorders: A scoping review. J Eat Disord. 2022;10(1):21.
6. Linardon J, Messer M, Rodgers RF, et al. A systematic scoping review of research on covid-19 impacts on eating disorders: A critical appraisal of the evidence and recommendations for the field. Int J Eat Disord. 2022;55(1):3-38.
7. Voderholzer U, Haas V, Correll CU, et al. Medical management of eating disorders: An update. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2020;33(6):542-53.
8. Sacco B, Kelley U. Diagnosis and evaluation of eating disorders in the pediatric patient. Pediatr Ann. 2018;47(6):e244-e9.

1. Milliren CE, Richmond TK, Hudgins JD. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations for eating disorders during the covid-19 pandemic. Pediatrics. 2023;151(1).
2. Cozzi G, Grillone A, Zuliani E, et al. Suicide attempts and eating disorders in adolescents, the mental health wave of the second year of the covid-19 pandemic: A paediatric emergency department perspective. Front Pediatr. 2023;11:1078274.
3. Spina G, Roversi M, Marchili MR, et al. Psychiatric comorbidities and dehydration are more common in children admitted to the emergency department for eating disorders in the covid-19 era. Eat Weight Disord. 2022:1-8.
4. Rothwell L, Vivek K, Nicholls D, et al. Fifteen-minute consultation: Recognition and management of eating disorders presenting to the emergency department. Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed. 2022.
5. Gómez Del Barrio A, Ruiz Guerrero F, Benito Gonzalez P, et al. A retrospective investigation of the prodromal stages of eating disorders and use of health services in young patients the year prior to the diagnosis. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2022;16(2):162-7.
6. Couturier J, Gayowsky A, Findlay S, et al. A retrospective cohort study examining health care utilization patterns in individuals diagnosed with an eating disorder in childhood and/or adolescence. Int J Eat Disord. 2022.
7. Spigel R, Lin JA, Milliren CE, et al. Access to care and worsening eating disorder symptomatology in youth during the covid-19 pandemic. J Eat Disord. 2021;9(1):69.
8. Redekopp C, Dimitropoulos G, Patten S, et al. Considering a risk profile based on emergency department utilization in young people with eating disorders: Implications for early detection. Int J Eat Disord. 2021.
9. Ma C, Gonzales-Pacheco D, Cerami J, et al. Emergency medicine physicians’ knowledge and perceptions of training, education, and resources in eating disorders. J Eat Disord. 2021;9(1):4.
10. Jafar AJN, Jafar WJJ, Everitt EK, et al. Recognising and managing eating disorders in the emergency department. Postgrad Med J. 2021.
11. Conlon C, McDonnell T, Barrett M, et al. The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on child health and the provision of care in paediatric emergency departments: A qualitative study of frontline emergency care staff. BMC Health Serv Res. 2021;21(1):279.
12. Agostino H, Burstein B, Moubayed D, et al. Trends in the incidence of new-onset anorexia nervosa and atypical anorexia nervosa among youth during the covid-19 pandemic in Canada. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(12):e2137395.
13. Ismail A, Nunez J. Points & pearls: Emergency department management of eating disorder complications in pediatric patients. Pediatr Emerg Med Pract. 2020;17(2):e1-e2.
14. Ernest S, Kuntz HM. Emergency department management of eating disorder complications in pediatric patients. Pediatr Emerg Med Pract. 2020;17(2):1-16.
15. Peebles R, Sieke EH. Medical complications of eating disorders in youth. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2019;28(4):593-615.
16. Monge MC, Loh M. Medical complications of eating disorders in pediatric patients. Pediatr Ann. 2018;47(6):e238-e43.
17. Mendelson J. Emergency department management of pediatric shock. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2018;36(2):427-40.
18. DerMarderosian D, Chapman HA, Tortolani C, et al. Medical considerations in children and adolescents with eating disorders. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2018;27(1):1-14.

1. FEAST: Global support and education community of and for parents of those with eating disorders.
2. National Eating Disorders Information Centre (NEDIC)
3. Anorexia and Bulimia Quebec
4. CanPed: Regional Eating Disorder Program in Ottawa. Understanding eating disorders in adolescence.
5. Canadian Mental Health Association. Understanding and finding help for eating disorders.
6. Government of Canada. Eating disorders in teens: Information for parents and caregivers.