The Prevalence of Disturbances of Eating Behaviour in a Portuguese Female University Population

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a questionnaire constructed to identifr the prevalence of bulimia nervosa (BN) , binge eating and other manifestations of concern with body and shape and habits of consumption of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs among female university students in Lisbon. It was sent out to 1542 subjects and responses from 50.1 per cent were obtained. Among those students who responded, 55.1 per cent desired to lose weight, 25 per cent reported weight fluctuations in the previous year, 12 per cent were dieting at that moment and 48.8 per cent had been on a diet before. The prevalence of BN was 3 per cent and 13.2 per cent of subjects reported at least two binge eating episodes per week (bingeeeaten) . Bulimics and binge-eaters were heavier, wanted to lose m e weight, had used diets before m e frequently, and reported ponderal oscillations more frequently than controls. They also reported more frequent consumption of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs than controls, but this is not statistically significant.

The prevalence of eating disorder pathology in a cross-ethnic population of female students in South Africa

“…There were also clear race differences in BMI with blacks having the highest BMIs compared to whites and Asians. Taken together, it can be argued that eating disorder pathology is associated with urban living and low SES, a proposal similar to that of Baptista et al (1996).…”

Meta‐analysis on drugs in people with eating disorders

“…There is a significant pooled standardized effect size of 0.141 (z ¼ 2.28, p < .05) in the meta-analysis performed with data from the six studies of BEDbingers groups (Baptista et al, 1996;Dunn et al 2002;Piran & Robinson, 2006a,b;Ross & Ivis, 1999;Telch & Stice, 1998), including 20 independent comparisons between groups (see Figure 4). The data showed a high degree of heterogeneity across the studies (X 2 ð19Þ ¼ 82.19, p < .001), and also the index of inconsistency, I 2 , across studies reached 76.9.…”

“…Finally, in the group of general drug use there are five studies reporting use of any kind of drugs (Baptista, Sampaio, do Carmo, Reis, & Galvao-Teles, 1996;Bushnell, Wells, McKenzie, Hornblow, Oakley-Browne, & Joyce, 1994;Halvorsen, Andersen, & Heyerdahl, 2005;Ross & Ivis, 1999;Telch & Stice, 1998) and a total number of nine independent comparisons. In this case we found a medium and significant pooled standardized effect size (d ¼ .509, z ¼ 3.73, p < .001).…”

“…In the group of BN-purgers there are eight studies (Baptista et al, 1996;Bushnell et al, 1994;Cance et al, 2005;Devaud et al, 1998;Dunn et al, 2002;Piran & 1 The forrest plots are not included in this section due to lack of space. A copy of them is available upon request.…”

Prevalência das doenças do comportamento alimentar

“…Tendo presente estudos realizados em jovens do ensino superior (mais de 18 anos), Baptista et al (1996) verificaram que 57,9% das inquiridas tinham peso normal, 32,9% peso baixo e 9,2% excesso de peso; mais de metade (55,1%) queria perder peso, sendo que 45% já tinha peso baixo. Apesar de os valores recolhidos quanto ao desejo de perder peso se aproximarem dos dados do presente estudo, estes autores relataram um maior percentual (sensivelmente o dobro) no que diz respeito às inquiridas com baixo peso e, mesmo assim, desejavam pesar menos.…”