Results suggest that eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, are more common among white women than among black women. The low treatment rates in both groups suggest that health professionals need to be more alert to the possibility of eating disorders in women.

This study sought to examine risk and onset patterns in anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED). Women with AN (n=71), BN (n=66), BED (n=160) and non-psychiatric controls (n=323) were compared retrospectively on risk factors, symptom onset, and diagnostic migration. Eating disorder groups reported greater risk exposure than non-psychiatric controls. AN and BED differed on premorbid personality/behavioral problems, childhood obesity, and family overeating. Risk factors for BN were shared with AN and BED. Dieting was the most common onset symptom in AN, whereas binge eating was most common in BN and BED. Migration between AN and BED was rare, but more frequent between AN and BN and between BN and BED. AN and BED have distinct risk factors and onset patterns, while BN shares similar risk factors and onset patterns with both AN and BED. Results should inform future classification schemes and prevention programs.

The present study investigated the occurrence of life events preceding the onset of disturbed eating in binge-eating disorder (BED). In a case-control design, 162 matched pairs of black and white women with BED and women with no current psychiatric disorder, and 107 matched pairs of women with BED and a current general psychiatric disorder were recruited from the community for the New England Women's Health Project. Life events in the year before the onset of disturbed eating were assessed retrospectively with an investigator-based interview. Women with BED reported exposure to a significantly greater number of life events during the year before onset of eating disturbances than both the non-psychiatric and psychiatric control women during the same period of time in their lives. Women with BED had a significantly higher risk of exposure to certain specific life events (e.g., critical comments about shape, weight, or eating; stress related to work, school or other sources; major changes in life circumstances and relationships; physical abuse; and feeling unsafe in a variety of settings) than the non-psychiatric control women, while differences between the BED and the psychiatric control group were less marked. There was no evidence for race-specific exposure to antecedent life events. The results suggest that a greater number and certain specific types of life events increase risk for the subsequent development of BED.

Objective: To examine trends in weight control practices from 1995 to 2005. Method: The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System biennially assesses five weight control behaviors among nationally representative samples of United States high school students. Results: Across time, more females than males dieted (53.8% vs. 23.8%), used diet products (10% vs. 4.3%), purged (7.5% vs. 2.7%), exercised (66.5% vs. 46.9%), or vigorously exercised (42.8% vs. 36.8%). All weight control behaviors among males increased during the decade. Black females were less likely than Hispanic females, who were less likely than White females, to practice weight control. White males were less likely than Black males, who were less likely than Hispanic males, to practice weight control. The ethnic difference in weight control practices is consistent across time. Conclusion: All male adolescents are at increasing risk for developing eating disorder symptomatology, and Black females appear to continue to resist pressure to pursue thinness. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2008

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