Family feeding: eating disorders development and maintenance influences

Objectives. Clarify the importance of the family in children development since childhood, focusing in how parenting styles, interpersonal relations between family members and food behaviours influence in the onset and keeping of eating disorders. We will indicate the characteristics of parenting styles and differences between risk factors, precipitating factors, protective factors and keep factors. Just as, emphasise the importance of prevention, early diagnosis and clinical intervention. Method. Information and data were compiled from online database and then we selected those articles, thesis and studies associated to our field of study. Results. Characteristics differences between ED families and non ED families, higher family malfunction and excessive concern about weight, body shape and feeding. Besides, significant consequences from parenting styles in the onset and keeping of eating disorders. Conclusions. The present review shows differences, but it needs more research due to the multi-causal nature of ED. For future studies, it would be interesting increasing men sample, and keeping on mind some peculiar family circumstances more usual nowadays as homosexual or single-parent families, impact of globalisation and migration to different cultures, canons of beauty and gastronomic traditions.