Adolescent Eating Disorder Risk in a Bilingual Region: Clinical Prevalence, Screening Challenges and Treatment Gap in South Tyrol, Italy

Background/Objectives: Eating disorders (EDs) in adolescents are increasingly prevalent. In South Tyrol, a bilingual region in Northern Italy, not only actual gender and age prevalences can be compared to screening rates, but even the comparability of screening tools across languages can be examined. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis integrated clinical registry data with representative, online school-recruited adolescents (11 to 17) self-reports. 166 clinically diagnosed cases and 1465 screened adolescents (1246 German, 219 Italian), were examined. The SCOFF questionnaire (cutoff ≥ 2 for German and ≥3 for Italian), body mass index, body image perception, psychosocial and lifestyle indicators in proxy and self-reports were examined using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results: The clinical dataset for 2024 has a prevalence rate of 0.4%. The SCOFF screening tool identified symptomatic cases in 10.6%, and an age-increasing trend among females. The overall SCOFF-prevalence did not differ between language versions, although responses to individual items varied significantly. Predictors of ED included body image, psychosomatic complaints, problematic social media use, and low social support, with differences between genders. Parents tended to underestimate their children's perception of being "too thick." Conclusions: In early adolescence, preventive strategies are needed and targeted interventions in late adolescence. For early detection and intervention, gender-sensitive prevention and active parental involvement is needed. The SCOFF questionnaire demonstrates utility across both languages, but bilingual comparison highlights the need for culturally adapted tools and cross-language validation.