Functional Recovery and Rehabilitation in Children and Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: Physical Health, Psychological well-being, and Participation

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is one of the most severe psychiatric disorders affecting children and adolescents, with profound consequences for physical health, cognitive functioning, emotional well-being, social development, and participation in everyday life. Beyond medical complications associated with malnutrition, young people with AN frequently experience impairments in academic engagement, family relationships, peer interactions, and quality of life. Although advances have been made in understanding the psychopathology and treatment of AN, many aspects of functional recovery remain insufficiently investigated. In particular, there is growing recognition that weight restoration alone does not necessarily correspond to recovery in physical functioning, psychological health, social participation, or overall well-being.

Existing research has primarily focused on diagnosis, medical stabilization, and symptom remission, while comparatively less attention has been given to functional outcomes, rehabilitation, and the long-term recovery process. Variability in outcome measures, definitions of recovery, follow-up duration, and assessment methods has limited comparisons across studies and hindered the development of evidence-based, multidisciplinary rehabilitation strategies. Further research is needed to better characterize recovery trajectories, identify predictors of favorable outcomes, understand the lived experiences of children, adolescents, and families, and evaluate interventions that promote meaningful participation in education, family life, physical activity, and community engagement.

This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of functional recovery and rehabilitation in children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa. It will explore how the disorder affects physical functioning, emotional well-being, cognitive performance, daily activities, education, family functioning, and social participation throughout the continuum of care. Contributions are encouraged to investigate interdisciplinary approaches that integrate medical, nutritional, psychological, occupational, physiotherapeutic, and family-based interventions to support holistic recovery. The Research Topic also seeks to identify clinically meaningful outcome measures, promote patient-centered care, and inform best practices for rehabilitation, service delivery, and long-term follow-up.

To gather further insights into the functional, psychological, educational, and participation-related consequences of anorexia nervosa in children and adolescents, we welcome articles addressing the following themes:

- Functional recovery and rehabilitation outcomes in pediatric anorexia nervosa

- Physical health, nutritional rehabilitation, and restoration of functional capacity

- Activities of daily living, occupational performance, and participation

- Cognitive functioning, executive function, and neuropsychological recovery

- Emotional well-being, anxiety, depression, perfectionism, and psychological adjustment

- Quality of life and patient-reported and proxy-reported outcome measures

- Family functioning, caregiver burden, and family-based interventions

- School attendance, educational support, and return-to-school programmes

- Social participation, peer relationships, identity development, and community engagement

- Occupational therapy, physiotherapy, exercise rehabilitation, nutritional, psychological, medical, and interdisciplinary interventions

- Assessment tools and outcome measures for functional recovery and participation

- Development, adaptation, and validation of pediatric assessment instruments

- Longitudinal studies of recovery trajectories, relapse, and long-term outcomes

- Early intervention, predictors of recovery, and resilience factors

- Lived experiences of children, adolescents, parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals

- Digital health, telehealth, and innovative models of multidisciplinary care

- Equity, accessibility, and barriers to eating disorder services

- Clinical pathways, models of care, and implementation of multidisciplinary rehabilitation programmes

This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Systematic Reviews (including scoping reviews), Clinical Trials, Mini Reviews, and Perspective articles.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review

Keywords: anorexia nervosa, anorexia nervosa in children, anorexia nervosa in adolescents, pediatric eating disorders, functional recovery, rehabilitation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.