Prevalence of Eating Disorders Among Adolescents in the Northwest of Iran

BACKGROUND: Perceived sociocultural pressure to be thin has an important impact on disordered eating during early and middle adolescence, but less is known about late adolescence. Adolescents face special problems that are less common during childhood. Several studies indicate that the prevalence of eating disorders has been increased among adolescents. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence, prevalence and correlates of eating disorders (ED) among adolescents in two cities of Iran, Urmia and Tabriz. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey in which 1990 adolescent boys and girls were selected through multistage random sampling. The study was based on self-report questionnaires including eating attitudes test (EAT-26) and DSM-IV criteria for the presence of eating disorders. To analyze the obtained data we calculated measures of central tendency and dispersion, linear and logistic regression and Fisher’s exact test. RESULTS: According to diagnostic criteria of EAT-26, 492 students (24.2%) were at risk of ED and scored above the recommended cut-off point on EAT-26. Among 1990 students, a total of 51 cases (0.25%) of eating disorder (14 anorexia nervosa, 18 bulimia nervosa, and 19 eating disorder not otherwise specified) were diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained prevalence of ED in our study was higher than previous studies in Iran. We found high numbers of boys with ED. Overweight adolescents were shown to be more susceptible to strict dieting than normal-weight adolescents. These results suggest that it is necessary to provide screening and treatment services for Iranian adolescents. Further research is needed to develop intervention programs to control eating disorders among Iranian adolescents.