Eating attitudes among adolescents.
BACKGROUND
Israeli youth lead 27 western countries in dieting. The prevalence of eating disorders has been rising in the last 30 years, causing social problems and medical complications.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of eating disorders among high school students in a region in northern Israel (Misgav) and to examine the relationship between the parents' employment status and the subject's eating disorder.


METHODS
A structured questionnaire was administered to collect demographic data. The short version of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was used to evaluate the subject's attitudes toward and preoccupation with food, dieting, eating, physical appearance, and personal control over eating.


RESULTS
Of 360 students approached, 283 (78%) completed the self-report EAT-26. One of every 5 females and one in every 20 males had an abnormal eating attitude. The rate of pathologic EAT-26 results, 20.8%, falls within the high range of similar community-based samples of female adolescents. There were no differences in EAT-26 score between students with an employed or unemployed mother; however, there was a trend for higher EAT-26 scores among those whose father was unemployed (21.4% vs. 12.7%, chi2 = 0.14).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings support our hypothesis of a relatively high rate of abnormal eating attitudes (as reflected by high EAT-26 score) in this population. Another possible risk factor is having an unemployed father, which warrants further research and attention. Our next step is to introduce an intervention program in the school and to study its effect.
Maor
Noga Roguin
NR
Department of Family Medicine, Clalit Health Services, Haifa, Israel. nogama@clalit.org.il
Sayag
Shlomit
S
Dahan
Rachel
R
Hermoni
Doron
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D007585:Jews / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires