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Pupil attending girl's school are twice likely to be affected by eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia than girl's attending co-ed schools, reveals a recent study by researchers from Oxford University.

According to the research published in International Journal of Epidemiology eating disorder is kind of contagious among children and the attitude may spread from one female student to other. Children tend to be more conscious on their looks and the culture of perfectionism prevailing in the girls' school influences their behavior and eating habits.

About 55,000 students in Sweden that completed their secondary schools between 2002 and 2010 were involved in the study. And it was observed that a total of 2.4pc of girls studying in schools exhibited eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia. On further analysis it was found that 3.3pc of pupil studying in all girl's school suffered from eating disorders while only 1.3pc of girl's attending co-ed schools exhibited the above problem.

"It might be an unintentional effect of the aspirational culture of some schools that makes eating disorders more likely; it might be that eating disorders are contagious and can spread within a school," said lead author Dr Helen Bould, child and adolescent psychiatrist, noted Science Daily. "On the other hand, it could be that some schools are better than others at identifying eating disorders in their students and ensuring they get diagnosed and treated," she added.

Children from well- educated families that attended gender specific schools were found to have developed eating disorders like anorexia nervosa more frequently than pupil from less-educated backgrounds studying at co-ed or all-girls' schools. The researchers however, clarified that studying in same- sex schools don't seem contribute to such disorders but the attitude and "sense of perfectionism" of children from well-educated families probably has a role to play.

"Certainly those who develop eating disorders often have traits which see them strive for a sense of perfectionism and place an emphasis on it so it is interesting to see that the study suggests that being in a school that places emphasis on achievements and coming from a family of high-achievers might be a contributing factor," said Psychotherapist Harriet Parsons, according to Independent.