How genetics, environment and access to food shape eating disorders

Researchers say genetics, environment and access to food all play a role in eating disorders

HER RECOVERY. AFTERNOON LIGHT SPILLS ACROSS THE MAT AS SELENE MOVES THROUGH A QUIET YOGA FLOW. FOR URIC MOVEMENT HAS BECOME A WAY TO RECONNECT WITH HER BODY. I JUST HAVE SO MUCH JOY WITH MOVEMENT. I THINK MOVEMENT CAN BE A REALLY DIFFICULT THING IN RECOVERY. HER STRUGGLE WITH FOOD BEGAN AT A YOUNG AGE WITH PERSISTENT GASTROINTESTINAL ISSUES THAT MADE EATING UNCOMFORTABLE AND UNPREDICTABLE. IT’S REALLY FRUSTRATING AND IT MAKES YOU FEEL REALLY ALONE TO BE IN SO MUCH PAIN AND FOR NO ONE TO KNOW WHAT THAT PAIN FEELS LIKE, AND FOR NO ONE TO SEE THAT PAIN OVER TIME. YORICK’S OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER TOOK OVER A MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION DOCTORS SAY IS OFTEN PAIRED WITH DISORDERED EATING. FOR ME, MY OCD CONNECTS A LOT WITH FOOD, AND THIS FEAR I HAVE A FEAR OF VOMITING. FOODS WERE AVOIDED, PORTIONS SHRANK AND HER OCD PATTERNS DEVELOPED INTO AVOIDANT RESTRICTIVE FOOD INTAKE DISORDER KNOWN AS ARFID AND ANOREXIA NERVOSA. I THROW OUT FOOD THAT’S PERFECTLY FINE. I’LL PICK OUT PIECES OF FOOD THAT DON’T LOOK GOOD. AND RIGHT NOW I’M DEALING WITH A LOT OF CLEANLINESS, A LOT OF HAND WASHING WHILE PREPPING MY FOOD AS WELL. BACK IN 2022, YORK BEGAN VIRTUAL TREATMENT THE SAME DAY SHE STARTED HER FRESHMAN YEAR AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY. I DID THIS PROGRAM SIX HOURS A DAY WHILE IN MY FRESHMAN YEAR OF SCHOOL, AND IT REALLY TOOK A TOLL ON ME TODAY, SHE CONTINUES. TREATMENT NOW IN PERSON, WORKING THROUGH RULES AND FEARS THAT CAN STILL MAKE EATING DIFFICULT. IT’S HARD TO KNOW WHERE YOU’RE AT. MY MENTAL HEALTH HAS DEFINITELY BEEN UP AND DOWN, BUT CELINE’S STORY, AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS, IS PART OF A MUCH BIGGER PICTURE. AT THE BROAD INSTITUTE, SCIENTISTS ARE STUDYING THE GENETIC SIDE OF EATING DISORDERS, SEARCHING FOR CLUES IN DNA. WE KNOW THAT EATING DISORDERS RUN IN FAMILIES. NOW, GENETICS ISN’T EVERYTHING. IT’S, YOU KNOW, COMPLEX IN THE EATING DISORDER SPACE, BOTH GENES AND ENVIRONMENT MATTER. RESEARCHERS ARE ASKING PEOPLE THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA TO PARTICIPATE BY ANSWERING A QUESTIONNAIRE AND PROVIDING A SALIVA SAMPLE. WE SEE THAT AS A REALLY IMPORTANT TOOL, BECAUSE I THINK THERE’S ALSO A LOT OF AWARENESS THAT SOCIAL MEDIA ISN’T ALWAYS NECESSARILY BENEFICIAL FOR PEOPLE WITH EATING DISORDERS. ONCE THE SALIVA IS COLLECTED, SCIENTISTS ARE ABLE TO STUDY THE GENETIC CODE WITHIN THE SAMPLES. THE RESEARCH IS STILL IN ITS EARLY STAGES, BUT SCIENTISTS SAY THEY ARE ALREADY BEGINNING TO UNCOVER PATTERNS. EATING DISORDERS ARE THE CONFLUENCE OF GENETIC EFFECTS THAT MAYBE PUT YOU AT RISK FOR DEVELOPING AN EATING DISORDER, AND YOUR EXPERIENCES, YOUR ENVIRONMENT, EVERYTHING THAT COMES INTO YOU AND YOUR LIFE THAT ALSO SHAPES EATING DISORDERS. IT’S NOT ONE OR THE OTHER. IT’S BOTH IN TANDEM, WHICH MEANS WHERE SOMEONE LIVES AND WHAT FOOD THEY CAN ACCESS CAN ALSO SHAPE THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH EATING. YASMIN ANDERSON, THE CEO OF BLACK WOMEN IN CHARGE A LOT OF MY RESEARCH STARTED WITH EXACTLY WHERE YOU LIVE IN A FOOD DESERT, VERSUS WHAT THE ODDS OF YOU SEEKING OUT EATING DISORDER TREATMENT IN THE FIRST PLACE, EVEN IS, AND WHAT YOUR ODDS OF IDENTIFYING THAT YOU HAVE AN EATING DISORDER AS AN INDIVIDUAL IS IN MASSACHUSETTS, 2.8 MILLION RESIDENTS LIVE IN AREAS CONSIDERED FOOD DESERTS OR FOOD SWAMPS, WHICH IS WHERE INSTEAD OF JUST NOT HAVING GROCERY STORES, YOU ACTUALLY HAVE AN OVERAGE OF UNHEALTHY OPTIONS. IN ROXBURY, TROPICAL FOODS IS HELPING BRING FRESH PRODUCE, GLOBAL INGREDIENTS AND A FULL GROCERY STORE TO A NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE 25% OF HOUSEHOLDS HAVE FOOD INSECURITY. THERE’S REALLY NOT A LOT OF GROCERY STORES AROUND HERE. A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THIS AREA REALLY DON’T HAVE CARS AS THEY’RE WALKING, SO IT’S IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO HAVE ACCESS TO PROTEIN AND FRESH VEGETABLES AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. UNDERSTANDING EATING DISORDERS MEANS LOOKING BEYOND JUST THE INDIVIDUAL. BUT AT GENETICS AND ENVIRONMENT, ACCESS TO FOOD AND THE COMMUNITIES PEOPLE LIVE IN. WE LEARN VERY EARLY ON THAT BLACK WOMEN WHO ARE RAISED IN PREDOMINANTLY WHITE ENVIRONMENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE ANOREXIA. AND THEN ONES THAT ARE RAISING PREDOMINANTLY BLACK ENVIRONMENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE BULIMIA AND BINGE EATING DISORDERS. CELINE IS WORKING ON AN APP CALLED PROOF THAT WILL INCLUDE FOOD AND MOOD JOURNALING. DBT, DISTRESS TOLERANCE, AND FOOD EXPOSURE SUPPORT. WHEN CREATING THE APP, SHE WENT THROUGH ALL THE THINGS THAT HELPED HER

How genetics, environment and access to food shape eating disorders

Researchers say genetics, environment and access to food all play a role in eating disorders

Updated: 8:10 PM EDT Mar 12, 2026

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For Celine Uhrich, movement is no longer about pressure — it’s about healing.On a quiet yoga mat, the college student reconnects with her body one stretch at a time. But that relationship hasn’t always come easily. Chronic gastrointestinal issues and obsessive-compulsive disorder fueled fears around food that eventually developed into avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and anorexia.In 2022, Uhrich began virtual treatment the same day she started her freshman year, balancing classes with six hours of therapy a day.Scientists at the Broad Institute are studying how genetics and environment interact, asking volunteers to contribute saliva samples and health histories.Experts say where someone lives — and what food they can access — also shapes their relationship with eating. In Boston neighborhoods facing food insecurity, stores like Tropical Foods help bring fresh groceries closer to home.Understanding eating disorders, researchers say, requires looking at the full picture.

BOSTON —

For Celine Uhrich, movement is no longer about pressure — it’s about healing.

On a quiet yoga mat, the college student reconnects with her body one stretch at a time. But that relationship hasn’t always come easily. Chronic gastrointestinal issues and obsessive-compulsive disorder fueled fears around food that eventually developed into avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and anorexia.

In 2022, Uhrich began virtual treatment the same day she started her freshman year, balancing classes with six hours of therapy a day.

Scientists at the Broad Institute are studying how genetics and environment interact, asking volunteers to contribute saliva samples and health histories.

Experts say where someone lives — and what food they can access — also shapes their relationship with eating. In Boston neighborhoods facing food insecurity, stores like Tropical Foods help bring fresh groceries closer to home.

Understanding eating disorders, researchers say, requires looking at the full picture.