A small but growing body of work has highlighted that the symptoms and management of PMOS may increase risk for eating disorder symptoms, even though there remains much to be studied. This is a (growing) collection of research findings relevant to PMOS and eating disorders (both in relation to each other, as well as independently). We will aim to update this section regularly, but let us know if you have any recommendations to be added here!

Recent Publications on Eating Disorder Risks in PMOS

A review summarising research on eating disorder risks in PMOS:

Lalonde-Bester, S., Malik, M., Masoumi, R., Ng, K., Sidhu, S., Ghosh, M., & Vine, D. (2024). Prevalence and Etiology of Eating Disorders in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Scoping Review. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 15(4), 100193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100193

Individuals with PCOS are at high risk of EDs, particularly BED [Binge Eating Disorder] and BN [Bulimia Nervosa]. However, the degree of risk for specific subtypes of EDs remains largely unclear. The pathophysiology of EDs in PCOS involves multiple pathways including genetic, metabolic, endocrine and psychological factors […] (Lalonde-Bester et al., 2024, p. 19)

A review summarising research on PMOS and eating disorders, taking into account diagnostic criteria and BMI 

Cooney, L. G., Gyorfi, K., Sanneh, A., Bui, L. M., Mousa, A., Tay, C. T., Teede, H., Stener-Victorin, E., & Brennan, L. (2024). Increased Prevalence of Binge Eating Disorder and Bulimia Nervosa in Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 109(12), 3293–3305. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgae462

Care for women with PCOS should be individualized and contextualized with the knowledge of the negative impact of weight stigma or weight management in the setting of eating disorders (Cooney et al., 2024, p.3303)

Another review of research on PMOS and disordered eating/eating disorders, identifying that women with PMOS have over three times the odds of having abnormal eating disorder scores as well as being diagnosed with an eating disorder when compared to women without PMOS

Lee, I., Cooney, L. G., Saini, S., Sammel, M. D., Allison, K. C., & Dokras, A. (2019). Increased odds of disordered eating in polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 24(5), 787–797. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0533-y

An empirical study (=this involved data collection) including 148 women with PMOS and 106 control participants finding that women with PMOS have over four times the risk of reporting disordered eating behaviours than controls

Lee, I., Cooney, L. G., Saini, S., Sammel, M. D., Allison, K. C., & Dokras, A. (2019). Increased odds of disordered eating in polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 24(5), 787–797. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0533-y

Recent Publications on PMOS

The research article outlining the rationale and process of changing the name “PCOS” to “PMOS”

Teede, H. J., Khomami, M. B., Morman, R., Laven, J. S. E., Joham, A. E., Costello, M. F., Patil, M., Rees, D. A., Berry, L., Cree, M. G., Zhao, H., Norman, R. J., Dokras, A., & Piltonen, T. (2026). Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, the new name for polycystic ovary syndrome: a multistep global consensus process. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00717-8

“Overall goals [of the name change from PCOS to PMOS] include greater awareness, enhanced diagnosis, improved care quality and patient satisfaction, and optimised outcomes across the broad features of the condition” (Teede et al., 2026, p. 9)

An overview of PMOS (research) priorities, based on international surveys with those affected by PMOS and healthcare providers, as well as expert reviews: 

“[Research priorities include the exploration of] Health professionals’ awareness of their own weight-stigmatising beliefs and behaviours and implementation of weight-neutral/weight inclusive care in PCOS” (Teede et al., 2024, p. 10)

A (quite technical) overview of our current knowledge on PMOS:

Stener-Victorin, E., Teede, H., Norman, R. J., Legro, R., Goodarzi, M. O., Dokras, A., Laven, J., Hoeger, K., & Piltonen, T. T. (2024). Polycystic ovary syndrome. Nature reviews. Disease primers, 10(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-024-00511-3

An overview of how PMOS affects other areas of life (including disordered eating/eating disorders and body image issues!). Includes a recommendation for eating disorder screening in PMOS: