Eating disorders in New Zealand: Implications for Māori and health service delivery

Abstract

Objective: Lifetime prevalence rates in Te Rau Hinengaro (The New Zealand Mental Health Survey) suggest eating disorders are at least as common in the M aori population as the non-M aori population, yet little is known at a population level about those accessing specialist mental health treatment for eating disorders in New Zealand. The aim of this study was to describe the population undergoing specialist mental health treatment for eating disorders and compare M aori and non-M aori clinical characteristics and service use. Method: This study uses the Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data data set, managed by the New Zealand Ministry of Health to describe the characteristics of people with eating disorders and their use of specialist mental health services from 2009 to 2016. Results: There were 3,835 individuals with a diagnosed eating disorder who had contact with specialist mental health services in this time period, 7% of whom were M aori. Within the cohort, M aori had a higher prevalence for a bulimia nervosa diagnosis, fewer diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, and a higher prevalence of other psychiatric comorbidity than non-M aori. Discussion: There is discrepancy between the proportion of service users accessing specialist mental health services who are M aori and the assessed crude prevalence of eating disorders for M aori in national estimates. Once M aori are in specialist services; however, their use of services is comparable to non-M aori. Further research is needed to highlight the experiences of those M aori with eating disorders and address barriers to accessing services for M aori with eating disorders.

The impact of COVID-19 on eating disorder referrals and admissions in Waikato, New Zealand

“…The prevalence of eating disorders in Māori is thought to equal, if not surpass, the prevalence in the general population [ 35 ]. These findings are in keeping with national data indicating that Māori comprise 7% of the population receiving specialist eating disorder treatment in New Zealand [ 36 ].…”

Intuitive Eating Scale-2: psychometric properties and clinical norms among individuals seeking treatment for an eating disorder in private practice

“…To our knowledge, there is only one other study which explores the factor structure of the IES-2 in a clinical population, and this smaller study was limited to three disorders, AN, BN, and BED [48]. Because attitudes and behaviours relating to eating and dieting are nuanced and heavily influenced by a wide variety of demographic and cultural factors, further exploration of the psychometric properties of the IES-2 in diverse samples, including in men and non-binary groups and those receiving treatment in the public sector, is needed [7,21,28]. Although the study collected data from a large sample, the participants included in the present sample were relatively homogenous in terms of gender, age, and socioeconomic status, limiting the ability of the present study to identify and control for possible confounds; this will be an important goal in future clinical research.…”

Psychosocial and financial impacts for carers of those with eating disorders in New Zealand

“…Finally, the small sample prevented any consideration of ethnicity. New Zealand Māori are known to experience health inequities [ 59 , 60 ] and are less likely to receive treatment [ 61 ] and thus likely to extend to greater carer impacts.…”