Anorexia nervosa among teenage girls: Emerging or prevalent?

OBJECTIVES: To find out frequency of anorexia nervosa (AN) among teenage girls (TG) and to find out the knowledge and practice regarding anorexia nervosa among teenage girls. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted at higher secondary public school, Rawalpindi from June 2013 till December 2013. A sample of 100 female students of the age group 13-19 years were inducted by systematic sampling technique. Mixed pretested questionnaire was filled after informed verbal consent. Data was entered and analysed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Participants mean age was 15.81 ± 1.323 years. Mean weight, mean height and mean body mass index were found to be 50.34 ± 10.445 kg, 160.14 ± 7.846 cm and 19.675 ± 4.1477 kg/m(2) respectively. Anorexia nervosa was found in 42 (42%) teenage girls while 58 (58%) were not having anorexia nervosa. Sufficient knowledge and positive practice were found to be present in 57 (57%) and 49 (49%) respectively. Statistically no significant association was found between KP and AN (p=0.73). CONCLUSION: Anorexia nervosa is an emerging health concern in Pakistan. Anorexia prevalent behaviour was observed in almost half of the teenage girls.