• Hanna-Maria Matinolli, Satu Männistö, Marika Sipola-Leppänen, Marjaana Tikanmäki, Kati Heinonen, Jari Lahti, Marius Lahti, Karoliina Wehkalampi, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin, Sture Andersson, Aulikki Lano, Timo Vartia, Dieter Wolke, Johan G Eriksson, Marja Vääräsmäki, Katri Räikkönen, and Eero Kajantie.
• National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki and Oulu, Finland.
• Int J Eat Disord. 2016 Jun 1; 49 (6): 572-80.

ObjectivePrevious studies have suggested that people born preterm have increased rates of eating disorders (ED). However, a recent study suggested lower levels of ED-related symptoms in the extreme group of adults born preterm with very low birth weight (<1,500 g). We examined symptoms related to EDs in adults born early (<34 weeks of gestational age) or late (34 to <37 weeks of gestational age) preterm.MethodsWe studied young adults (mean age 24.1 years) from two birth cohorts: ESTER (Northern Finland 1985-1989) and AYLS (Uusimaa, Finland, 1985-1986). Of the participants, 185 were born early preterm, 348 late preterm, and 637 were term-born controls (N = 1,170). They completed three subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI)-2, including Drive for Thinness (DT), Body Dissatisfaction (BD), and Bulimia (B). Group differences were examined by linear regression.ResultsYoung women born early preterm scored 4.1 points (95% CI -8.0, -0.2, P =.04) lower in summed EDI subscale scores than women born at term, when adjusted for age and cohort. This difference was observed also in DT and BD but not for B subscales. The differences persisted after adjustments for current, pre- and neonatal characteristics. We did not observe differences in EDI scores among men or women born late preterm when compared to controls.DiscussionWomen born early preterm have significantly fewer symptoms related to EDs in early adulthood when compared to their peers born at term, which may protect from developing an ED. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2016; 49:572-580).© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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