title: Diet and physical activity in women recovered from anorexia nervosa: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  After recovery, women with anorexia nervosa (AN) tend to maintain lower body mass indices (BMI) than women in the general population. Reasons for this are unknown as little is known about diet, food choices, physical activity levels (PAL), and reasons for exercise in women recovered from AN.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diet, reasons for food choice, PAL, and reasons for exercise were measured in an exploratory study of 15 women recovered from AN and 22 women with no eating disorder history.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In these hypotheses generating analyses, mean BMI in recovered women was numerically lower than control women [21.4 kg/m(2) (2.0) and 23.6 kg/m(2) (4.4); respectively (p < .06)]. Recovered women were more likely to base food choice on health benefits (p < .04) compared with control women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pathological behaviors that are pathognomonic of AN may resolve into healthy food and activity choices that help maintain BMIs lower in the healthy range in recovered individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. jdellava@vcu.edu
authors.forename: Jocilyn E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Dellava
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hamer
authors.forename: Akansha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kanodia
authors.forename: Mae Lynn
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Reyes-Rodríguez
authors.forename: Cynthia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bulik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires