Epidemiology of eating disordered symptoms in the Korean general population using a Korean version of the Eating Attitudes Test.
OBJECTIVE
The purposes of the present study were to estimate the proportion of subjects with a high score on the Korean version of Eating Attitudes Test--26 (KEAT-26), which may provide preliminary data regarding the prevalence rate of eating disorders in the Korean general population, and to further examine the sociocultural hypothesis of eating disorders.


METHODS
Using a multi-stage questionnaire sampling method, we surveyed 3062 subjects (1249 males, 1813 females) from 3896 Korean adults in a nationwide area.


RESULTS
8.5% (260/3062) of subjects scored above the cut-off on the KEAT-26. Their demographic correlates, eating traits, and other characteristics relating to general psychopathology were similar to those of patients with eating disorders and female Caucasian controls in Western countries.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that changes in various sociocultural aspects have increased the risk of developing eating disorders in Korea, and support the sociocultural hypothesis of eating disorders.
Lee
Y H
YH
Department of Psychiatry, Inje University Paik Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Rhee
M K
MK
Park
S H
SH
Sohn
C H
CH
Chung
Y C
YC
Hong
S K
SK
Lee
B K
BK
Chang
P
P
Yoon
A R
AR
D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors