Eating disorders and type 1 diabetes mellitus in adolescence.

One of the main difficulties in managing type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in the young is nutritional treatment. Studies have shown that adolescents (particularly adolescent girls and young women) have an increased risk for clinical and sub-clinical eating disorders. Adjustment to the nutritional regimen and, consequently, to the management of the disease in adolescence seems to involve a complex interplay of various psychosocial and biological aspects. The aim of this review is to consider the relationship between T1DM and eating disorders in adolescence in the light of some important biological psychological and familial factors. Further research is required in order to detect the degree of the interactions between these factors in adolescents with T1DM.