title: Prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in Latinos in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present national estimates and correlates of lifetime and 12-month DSM-IV eating disorders for Latinos.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data come from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), a national epidemiological household survey of Latinos in the United States.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Latinos have elevated rates of any binge eating and binge eating disorder but low prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The US born and those living a greater percentage of their lifetime in the US evidenced higher risk for certain eating disorders while severe obesity and low levels of education were significant correlates. Rates of treatment utilization were exceedingly low.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Standard eating disorder criteria may not be appropriate for understanding psychological morbidity of eating disorders for Latinos, particularly less acculturated Latinos, due to cultural differences in the presentation of eating disorder symptoms. Criteria for disturbed eating patterns that are more reflective of the illness experience of Latinos should be developed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research, Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. malegria@charesearch.org
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alegria
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Zhun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Xiao-li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Striegel-Moore
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012917:Social Adjustment; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology