The prevalence, intensity of DSM-V feeding and eating disorders and its sub-thresholds among women

Introduction : Eating disorders are serious psychiatric illness, defined by abnormal eating behaviors, shape and weight regulation difficulties and weight over concern.  Objectives: this study sought to explore the prevalence and intensity of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating and their sub-thresholds in women who referred to wellness and fitness centers. Materials and Methods: 946 women with a mean age of 24.64 were selected via simple random sampling. All participants were asked to complete Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS) and their body mass index (BMI) was calculated. . Analyzing data was done using descriptive statistics; Chi-square test, and multivariate analysis of variance. Results: the prevalence rate of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating in whole sample is 6.02%, 4.01% and 13.0% respectively. Discussion: DSM-5-defined eating disorders and its sub thresholds are common in women, binge eating with 16% prevalence rate is more common than other disorders. Further studies with assessing DSM-5 eating disorders in clinical and non-clinical population are greatly needed.