The Intersection of Autism and Eating Disorders: Understanding Body Image and Eating Problems in Women and Girls

The overlap between autism and eating disorders has been increasingly noticed in clinical settings in the past decade, and researchers have highlighted several similarities between disorders (e.g., executive function difficulties, socioemotional similarities). Moreover, many autistic individuals experience significant problems related to feeding and eating, often from a young age. Despite it being widely accepted that body image disturbance is a central construct related to the development and maintenance of eating disorders, little research to date has examined body image in autistic individuals and how their experience of body image relates to eating and weight-control behaviours. This study examined whether autistic women and girls differ from their non-autistic peers in the way they perceive their bodies and aimed to understand how body image disturbances relate to eating and weight control behaviours in this population. The sample was comprised of 37 autistic women and girls (aged 16 to 24) and 37 non-autistic women and girls of the same age. Information on body image, eating, and weight-control behaviours was gathered through self-report. A multidimensional conceptualization was used to test if the two groups differ in their experience across various aspects of body image. Autistic participants had relatively high rates of body dissatisfaction, eating, and feeding problems compared to the general population. The autistic group had significantly higher attitudinal body image scores and significantly higher rates of eating problems than the non-autistic group. The results suggest that although some autistic people may experience high rates of body dissatisfaction and eating problems, these feelings and behaviours are likely motivated by different reasons than their non-autistic peers. Results of the study build on the extremely limited research in this area. Implications for clinical practice in the assessment, prevention, and treatment of eating issues in this population are discussed