In a new study from KU Leuven, researchers found around 11% of the global frequently experience abdominal pain when they eat meals.
They found pain associated with eating appears to be most common in young people aged 18 to 28, with 15 percent affected.
Those who experienced frequent abdominal meal-related pain were also more likely to suffer from bloating, a swollen tummy, feeling too full after eating or feeling full up too quickly, constipation and diarrhea.
The same group also had more severe psychological distress and somatic symptoms (that were not gastrointestinal).
A total of 36% of the people with frequent meal-related pain reported suffered from anxiety compared with 25% in the occasional symptoms group and 18% in those who never experienced meal-related pain.
Those with frequent attacks also reported higher rates of depression (35%) compared to 24% in the occasional symptom group and 17% in the group that never had meal-related pain.
The findings were a result of surveying 54,127 people across 26 countries online.
Respondents were asked if they suffered abdominal pain and whether this was related to eating.
They were categorized into three groups: those who said their abdominal pain was meal-related more than 50% of the time, those who had occasional meal-related pain between 10 to 40% of the time, and those who rarely or never had meal-related pain.
The team says that people who experience meal-related abdominal pain more frequently experience other gastrointestinal symptoms and more regularly fulfill criteria for disorders of the gut-brain interactions, including common conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), bloating and abdominal distension.
They also have a higher burden of psychological and somatic symptoms, such as back pain or shortness of breath, which are associated with major distress and functioning problems. These symptoms cause distress and disruption in daily life.
If you care about gut health and nutrition, please read studies about gut bacteria linked to chronic pain and results showing that these four ancient herbs may benefit your gut and metabolism.
For more information about gut and your health, please see recent studies about a gut feeling may be key to early detection of colon cancer and findings of this gut problem may be linked to restless legs syndrome.
The study was presented at UEG Week Virtual 2021. One author of the study is Esther Colomier.
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