Ummehani Pithewan
Leigh High SchoolClass of 2024San Jose, California
About
Hello! I am Ummehani. My Polygence project is about ‘*The Impact of Family Dynamics on Eating Disorders*’. This topic is very close to my heart and I deeply care about the subject due to some of my personal experiences. With the help from my Polygence Mentor I have got this unique opportunity to research this topic to great depths. My research work has been published by ‘*Curieux Academic Journal*’. I am grateful to the team at the journal for recognizing my work. I am also volunteering with the ‘*Eating Disorder Resource Center*’ education initiative to further deepen practical understanding of my research topic. Going forward I hope to continue to engage and contribute to the community specifically in the area of psychological disorders and public health in general.Projects
- The Impact of Family Dynamics on Adolescent Eating Disorders with mentor Kaitlyn (Aug. 31, 2022)
Project Portfolio
The Impact of Family Dynamics on Adolescent Eating Disorders
Started Nov. 1, 2021
Abstract or project description
Eating disorders are a significant public health concern. Galmiche and colleagues conducted a systematic review with 94 studies from the years 2000 to 2018 on the global prevalence of eating disorders (page number). Based on their systematic review, the weighted mean of lifetime prevalence of eating disorders was 8.4% (range 3.3-18.6%) for women and 2.2% (range 0.8-6.5%) for men. Further, 75% of first-onset cases emerge during adolescence. An empirically supported risk factor for eating disorders is parent-child interactions and family environment (Jacobi, Hütter, Fittig). This is a narrative review on how parental behaviors impact the development of adolescent or young adult eating disorders. A literature search was conducted using the Google Scholar and Research Rabbit databases. Eating disorders are impacted by family dynamics such as attachment and parenting styles, and modeling of food and weight-related behaviors.