Prevalence of Bulimic Behaviors and Bulimia among a Sample of the General Population

Abstract

Data are presented on the prevalence of bulimic symptoms and bulimia among a sample of adults residing in north-central Florida (n = 2,075). The data were gathered between 1984 and 1986. The sample included 1,736 whites and 339 blacks, of whom 1,040 were females and 1,035 were males. A current diagnosis of bulimia was made using the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Third Edition (DSM-III), of the American Psychiatric Association. Females had significantly higher rates than did males on nine of the 10 bulimic symptoms. Blacks had symptom rates equal to or greater than whites on eight of the 10 items, and those in the lowest socioeconomic groups (SES) had rates greater than those in the highest SES group on nine of the 10 symptoms. Eight persons, 0.4% of the total sample, met the DSM-III criteria for a diagnosis of bulimia. These included six white females and two black males. Five of the females were aged 18-29 years; one was over 45. Five of the females were in the lower middle SES group; one was in the upper middle SES group. Both of the black males were aged 30-44, and both were in the lowest SES group. The data emphasize the need to distinguish between bulimic type symptoms and bulimia when estimating the prevalence of eating-related problems in the general population.

Prevalence of Eating Disorders in Italy: A Survey on a Sample of 16-Year-Old Female Students

“…7.8% of the girls be longed to middle upper class. The mean age of the sample was 16.07 (SD 0.76; range [15][16][17][18][19][20], the mean BMI was 20.4 (SD 2.44; range 15.6-29.0). Most of the girls (68%) were normal weight, while 16% were underweight and 16% were overweight.…”

Genetic and environmental contributions to obesity and binge eating

“…This is particularly relevant, because both the prevalence of obesity (Mokdad, Serdula, Dietz, Bowman, Marks, & Koplan, 1999) and possibly the prevalence of binge eating (Warheit et al, 1993) differ between African-American and European-American populations. Similar studies in men and in non-white populations are necessary to determine whether the genetic and environmental contributors to these traits are constant across genders and ethnic groups.…”

“…Binge eating and binge-eating disorder (BED) in the context of obesity are relatively equally distributed across gender in treatment-seeking populations (Spitzer et al, 1992;Spitzer et al, 1993) and may be more common in individuals from lower socioeconomic classes (Langer, Warheit, & Zimmerman, 1992;Warheit, Langer, Zimmerman, & Biafora, 1993). Community-based risk factor studies suggest that individuals with BED display greater vulnerability to obesity than healthy controls and that a history of childhood obesity is more common in individuals with BED than individuals with bulimia nervosa (Fairburn, Doll, Welch, Hay, Davies, & O'Connor, 1998).…”

Medical and psychiatric morbidity in obese women with and without binge eating

“…Clinical studies indicate that 23%À46% of obese individuals report binge eating (Gormally, Black, Daston, & Rardin, 1982;Marcus, Wing, & Lamparski, 1985;Spitzer, Yanovski, Wadden, Wing, & et al, 1993). Binge eating and binge eating disorder (BED) are distributed relatively equally across gender and ethnicity in clinical populations Spitzer et al, 1993;Yanovski, Nelson, Dubbert, & Spitzer, 1993) and may be more prevalent in lower socioeconomic classes (Langer, Warheit, & Zimmerman, 1992;Warheit, Langer, Zimmerman, & Biafora, 1993).…”