WEDNESDAY, April 30, 2025 (HealthDay News) — People with acne are at increased risk of developing an eating disorder, a new study says.
Adult acne patients are 2.4 times more likely to have an eating disorder, researchers reported recently in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.
Even after accounting for a history of mood disorders or body image disorder, acne was tied to a 65% increased risk of an eating disorder, researchers found.
“We found that acne was associated with a higher likelihood of having an eating disorder in adults from across the United States,” study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Cohen, director of the Psoriasis Treatment Program at Yale School of Medicine, said in prepared remarks.
“Our findings will help physicians caring for individuals with acne to be attentive to signs of eating disorders to provide holistic and comprehensive care to patients,” he added.
For the study, researchers analyzed data on nearly 7,400 patients with acne, comparing them to more than 207,000 people without acne.
“Our findings substantiate the relevance of acne as a potential risk factor for eating disorders,” researchers wrote.
“In patients with existing psychological risk factors, acne might serve as a stimulus that further elevates concerns about appearances and triggers cognitive biases (e.g. overestimating body size) and behaviors (e.g. restricting eating) that are theorized to underlie the development of eating disorders,” researchers continued.
Cohen emphasized that this study only included adults 18 or older, even though acne and eating disorders are thought to mainly impact teenagers.
“This may underscore the importance of acne as a risk factor for eating disorders and future research should include people of all ages,” Cohen said. “We strongly encourage anyone experiencing signs or symptoms of an eating disorder, regardless of whether that person also has acne, to seek professional care.”
More information
The National Eating Disorders Association has more about risk factors for eating disorders.
SOURCE: Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, April 16, 2025