Regular Article

Eating-disorder symptoms and syndromes in a sample of urban-dwelling Canadian women: Contributions toward a population health perspective†

  1. Lise Gauvin PhD1,2,3,4,*,
  2. Howard Steiger PhD4,5,
  3. Jean-Marc Brodeur PhD1,2

Article first published online: 24 OCT 2008

DOI: 10.1002/eat.20590

Issue

International Journal of Eating Disorders

International Journal of Eating Disorders

Volume 42, Issue 2, pages 158–165, March 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Gauvin, L., Steiger, H. and Brodeur, J.-M. (2009), Eating-disorder symptoms and syndromes in a sample of urban-dwelling Canadian women: Contributions toward a population health perspective. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 42: 158–165. doi: 10.1002/eat.20590

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Universite' de Montre'al, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

  2. 2

    GRIS-Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Santé, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

  3. 3

    The Léa-Roback Research Center on Social Inequalities in Health of Montreal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

  4. 4

    Eating Disorders Program, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

  5. 5

    Psychiatry Department, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

*Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, PO Box 6128, Downtown Station, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3J7

  1. †

    An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the International Conference on Eating Disorders in Orlando, FL in June 2004.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 5 FEB 2009
  2. Article first published online: 24 OCT 2008
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 15 JUL 2008

Funded by

  • Canadian Institutes for Health Research. Grant Number: 200103MOP-90554
  • Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ)
  • Léa-Roback Research Center
  • Research Center development initiative by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

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Keywords:

  • eating disorders;
  • bulimia nervosa;
  • binge-eating disorder;
  • prevalence studies

Abstract

Objective:

We estimated the prevalence of eating disorders and maladaptive eating behaviors in a population-based sample and examined the association of maladaptive eating with self-rated physical and mental health.

Method:

A sample of 1,501 women (mean age = 31.2 years, SD = 6.2) were recruited using random-digit dialing to participate in a 20-min telephone interview about eating behaviors.

Results:

Weighted frequency analysis showed the prevalence of frequent binge-eating to be 4.1%, that of regular purging to be 1.1%, and that of frequent compensation to be 8.7%. Although we found none of the women to meet full criteria for anorexia nervosa, 0.6% met criteria for bulimia nervosa, 3.8% provisional criteria for binge eating disorder, and 0.6% criteria for a newly proposed entity, purging disorder. As many as 14.9% fell into a residual category representing subthreshold, but potentially problematic variants of eating disturbances. Logistic regression analyses showed that clinical-level maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviors predicted self-rated physical- and mental-health problems after sociodemographic factors were controlled.

Discussion:

This population-based survey provides prevalence estimates of BN, BED, and purging disorder that are compatible with those of recent epidemiological studies and shows that maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviors represent a substantial population burden. © 2008 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2009

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