A Description of Disordered Eating Behaviors in Latino Males

Abstract

Objective-To explore disordered eating and eating disorders (ED) in Latino males.Participants-722 male college students from a larger prevalence study conducted in the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) system. Method-Participants were selected from a list of sections of required courses for first-year students on each campus. Self report instruments were used to explore ED symptoms and depression (BDI).Results-Overall, 2.26% scored above the cut-off point on the BULIT-R and 5.08% score above the cut-off point on the EAT-26. Of the males, 4.43% reported sufficient frequency and severity to approximate DSM-IV criteria for BN. Depression symptomatology was found in those who scored above the cut-off point on both instruments of ED.Conclusion-College health practitioners should be aware of disordered eating in Latino males and include them in efforts to detect disordered eating behaviors in college students. Keywords Mental Health; NutritionEating disorders (ED) have been inaccurately stereotyped as a female concern. Consequently, disordered eating in males remains understudied. Both assessment measures and diagnostic criteria are typically normed on and designed for women, which may inhibit detection in males.1 , 2 Prevalence estimates indicate that approximately 90% of individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are female with a lifetime prevalence of 0.5% for AN and 1-3% for BN.3 Elevated risk for ED in males have been reported in certain subgroups such as athletes,4 homosexuals 5 , 6 and men with histories of childhood sexual abuse. 7 Other factors such as psychiatric comorbidity 8 and personality traits have been explored 9, 10 as risk factors.For comments and further information, address correspondence to Dr. Reyes-Rodríguez, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 101 Manning Drive, CB #7160, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7160, USA (maelynn_reyes@med.unc.edu). ED are prevalent in college populations. [29][30][31] A study of campus-wide mental health conducted in a large public university in the U.S. reported that ED were among the most prevalent mental problems with a prevalence of 18-19%. 30 ED are not limited to females, as college males display both ED and disordered eating behaviors 29, 31 and they are increasingly adopting potentially harmful body image related behaviors. 32 In a study of Australian college males, 21% reported the presence of disordered eating behaviors. 29 Mental health problems among college students is one of the growing concerns facing The current study was designed to address the paucity of information in disordered eating and ED in college Latino males. The goals of this study were: (1) to determine the prevalence of disordered eating behaviors in a freshman male sample at the University of Puerto Rico; (2) to describe the characteristics of disordered eating (binge eating, purging, and other compensatory behaviors) in males; and (3) to compare low and high scorers on measures of disordered eating on depression and stressful life ...

Weight-Related Eating Among Less-Acculturated Latina College Students

“…Depression's relationship with eating pathology has been documented in other Latina college samples. For example, students from the University of Puerto Rico who reported disordered eating also reported more depressive symptoms than students who did not report disordered eating [16,17]. Depression did not, however, appear to play as important a role in the prediction of the eating behaviors examined in this study as it did in Sánchez-Johnsen et al's [5] sample.…”

Assessing Eating Disorder Risk: The Pivotal Role of Achievement Anxiety, Depression and Female Gender in Non-Clinical Samples

“…They frequently occur with other psychiatric disorders, such as depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders [5]. Although their exact cause is unknown, it is believed that a combination of biological, psychological and/or environmental abnormalities contribute to their development [1,6]. …”

“…Psychological factors have been readily associated with eating disorders, most notably with depression, stress and anxiety [9]. Standard factors that are also present in eating disorders involve female gender, family factors and socio-economic factors [4,6,15]. Female gender has been associated very strongly with the presence of eating disorders [16].…”

Distress, emotional clarity, and disordered eating in young people with complex emotional and behavioural difficulties

“…Disordered eating represents one harmful behaviour that has been relatively overlooked and under examined when compared to other dysregulated behaviours such as self-harm and substance use, in young people who are seeking help in primary mental health and AoD services (Rickwood, Telford, Parker, Tanti, & McGorry, 2014). Disordered eating includes a range of maladaptive or atypical eating behaviours (e.g., binge eating, purging, restricting food intake, hoarding food, compulsive eating) that may not meet a diagnostic threshold for an eating disorder (ED), yet are still associated with distress or impairment (Buckholdt et al, 2014;Cox, Skouteris, Hemmingsson, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, & Hardy, 2015;Reyes-Rodriguez, Sola, Von Holle, Unikel, & Bulik, 2011) and in many cases, are associated with variety of health-related consequences (for a review, see Buchholz, King, & Wray, 2017).…”