They tested how 66 adolescent girls, aged 12-18, with anorexia but without autism scored on tests to measure traits related to autism then compared them to over 1,600 typical teenagers in the same age range.
Five times more girls with anorexia scored in the range that people with autism score in, compared to the typical girls.
Professor Simon Baron-Cohen from the Autism Research Centre at the university, who led the research, said: Traditionally, anorexia has been viewed purely as an eating disorder. This is quite reasonable, since the girls dangerously low weight, and their risk of malnutrition or even death has to be the highest priority.
But this new research is suggesting that underlying the surface behaviour, the mind of a person with anorexia may share a lot with the mind of a person with autism. In both conditions, there is a strong interest in systems. In girls with anorexia, they have latched onto a system that concerns body weight, shape, and food intake.
The findings may prove useful in the treatment of the eating disorder, including shifting their focus away from food onto other activities, they claim.
Dr Tony Jaffa, who co-led the study, said: Recognising that some patients with anorexia may also need help with social skills and communication, and with adapting to change, also gives us a new treatment angle.
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Anorexia could be linked to autism, researchers claim