Screening High School Students for Eating Disorders: Results of a National Initiative

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Austin, S. Bryn ; Ziyadeh, Najat J. ; Forman, Sara ; Prokop, Lisa A. ; Keliher, Anne ; Jacobs, Douglas
• Description:
  Introduction ; Early identification and treatment of disordered eating and weight control behaviors may prevent progression and reduce the risk of chronic health consequences. ; Methods ; The National Eating Disorders Screening Program coordinated the first-ever nationwide eating disorders screening initiative for high schools in the United States in 2000. Students completed a self-report screening questionnaire that included the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and items on vomiting or exercising to control weight, binge eating, and history of treatment for eating disorders. Multivariate regression analyses examined sex and racial/ethnic differences. ; Results ; Almost 15% of girls and 4% of boys scored at or above the threshold of 20 on the EAT-26, which indicated a possible eating disorder. Among girls, we observed few significant differences between ethnic groups in eating disorder symptoms, whereas among boys, more African American, American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Latino boys reported symptoms than did white boys. Overall, 25% of girls and 11% of boys reported disordered eating and weight control symptoms severe enough to warrant clinical evaluation. Of these symptomatic students, few reported that they had ever received treatment. ; Conclusion ; Population screening for eating disorders in high schools may identify at-risk students who would benefit from early intervention, which could prevent acute and long-term complications of disordered eating and weight control behaviors.
• Subjects:
  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior
  • Racial Groups
  • Eating Disorders
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Schools
  • Sex Characteristics
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 2008; 5(4).
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  5
• Issue:
  4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/20278/cdc_20278_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 483.32 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cc6598a5b384d0273611b747a3a8ebf7663620ca3c7504560b35f26e233c32aeca3605459c0d7ed7d8b94f0bca426d61e579168bf4ade9095bb463a3f58b49a3