Full DBT is an expensive and demanding treatment but deserves consideration for patients with an eating disorder and co-morbid borderline personality disorder and self-harm. There is a need for a more systematic and thorough evaluation.

Literature on eating disorders (EDs) among South Asian people in Britain is limited. In an extension of an earlier study, referrals to the Leicester Adult Eating Disorders Service were examined between 1991 and 2005. All South-Asians presenting to the service were compared on age, gender and diagnosis with non-Asians. Female Asian patients diagnosed as bulimia nervosa and ED not otherwise specified were compared on a larger number of variables with the same number of non-Asian patients matched for diagnosis. As there were only six Asian patients with anorexia nervosa they were excluded from this comparison. Only 4.5% of female patients were Asian, as opposed to 13.8% of the local young female population in the most recent UK census. Overall, Asian women were significantly younger than the non-Asians but did not differ significantly with regard to clinical features or treatment variables. Asians are under-represented amongst women presenting to the service. The explanation for this remains uncertain. Overall, Asian sufferers who reach secondary specialist services closely resemble non-Asian patients.

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Leicestershire and Rutland Healthcare NHS Trust, UKExisting measures of body image concern may be helpful for quantifying such concerns, but are arguably of only limited value in exploring how an individual perceives and experiences his or her body. The Body Image Structured Interview (BISI) is designed to provide a structured but individualized approach to exploring the issue of body image and consists of two main parts: a semistructured interview focused on issues concerning the ideal woman and her body and a personal construct and repertory grid procedure for exploring body image construction in different areas of the body. In this preliminary exploratory study, we aim to assess the appropriateness and validity of the BISI in a clinical sample of 16 women with eating disorders and explore similarities and differences between them and a comparison group of 11 noneating-disordered women. Results from this preliminary study suggest that the BISI is suitable for use with subjects with eating disorders and may be valuable in highlighting personal issues associated with body image, including those speci®c to particular body parts. Preliminary results also suggest that whilst both clinical and non-clinical subjects place a similar emphasis on the importance of slimness and physical appearance, for non-eating-disordered young women such construction is less all-pervasive in how they view themselves. Such ®ndings will need con®rmation and elaboration in a larger scale study.