Epidemiological risk factor study concerning abnormal attitudes toward eating and adverse dieting behaviours among 12‐ to 25‐years‐old Chinese students

OBJECTIVE: Most epidemiological studies of eating disorders have been carried out in North America and Western Europe. There are few exploratory studies in China on the prevalence of eating disorders and influential factors that cause eating disorders. METHOD: A survey of school and college students aged between 12 and 25 in two cities in China had 1199 participants (95.8% response rate), 767 were female (63.9%) and 432 male (36.1%) Subjects completed questionnaires including the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26). RESULTS: 9.9% of the females and 2.0% of the males showed high risk scores (EAT ≥ 20) regardless of whether their weight was normal or they were underweight. Such high risk groups showed a significantly higher degree of psychological characteristics relevant to eating disorders in both female and male subjects. CONCLUSION: Both Chinese females and a group of Chinese males may be at high risk for eating disorders.