Nutrition knowledge in young women with eating disorders in Australia and Singapore: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to compare nutrition knowledge levels in young women with and without an eating disorder (ED) in two countries. METHOD: Women with a clinical ED (n = 55) and healthy control women (n = 99) in Australia and Singapore completed a Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire, acculturation questionnaire and demographics survey. Nutrition knowledge was analysed in terms of clinical status, cultural group, acculturation, socioeconomic status and education level. results: Women with EDs had greater knowledge than controls, but the magnitude of the difference was small. Greater acculturation to Western culture was associated with greater knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: The difference in nutrition knowledge between women with and without EDs is unlikely to be of clinical importance. The findings may reflect today's ubiquitous availability of nutrition information.

The relationship between skinfold thickness and body mass index in North European Caucasian and East Asian women with anorexia nervosa: implications for diagnosis and management.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between skinfold thickness and body mass index (BMI) in North European Caucasian and East Asian young women with and without anorexia nervosa (AN) in two countries. METHOD: Height, weight and skinfold thicknesses were assessed in 137 young women with and without AN, in Australia and Singapore. The relationship between BMI and the sum of triceps, biceps, subscapular and iliac crest skinfolds was analysed with clinical status, ethnicity, age and country of residence as covariates. RESULTS: For the same BMI, women with AN had significantly smaller sums of skinfolds than women without AN. East Asian women both with and without AN had significantly greater skinfold sums than their North European Caucasian counterparts after adjusting for BMI. CONCLUSION: Lower BMI goals may be appropriate when managing AN patients of East Asian ancestry and the weight for height diagnostic criterion should be reconsidered for this group.

Cross-cultural differences in the macronutrient intakes of women with anorexia nervosa in Australia and Singapore.

AIM: To compare the macronutrient intakes of women with and without anorexia nervosa (AN) across cultures. METHOD: Participants were women with AN (n = 39) and without AN (n = 89) of North European and East Asian backgrounds recruited in Australia and Singapore. Energy and the percentage energy contributed by protein (%protein), fat (%fat) and carbohydrate (%CHO) were assessed from participant's diet histories and analysed in terms of cultural group, acculturation, socio-economic status (SES) and education level. RESULTS: AN status was associated with lower energy and higher %CHO. Greater %protein was associated with greater acculturation to Western culture and lower SES, but not AN. Greater %fat was associated with lower SES and lower acculturation in women with AN, but with higher acculturation in controls. Greater %CHO was also associated with higher SES. CONCLUSION: The findings may represent Western diets' higher protein and fat contents, 'Western' knowledge of weight-loss diets, and affordability of low fat foods.

Body image disturbance in young North European and East Asian women with and without eating disorders in Australia and in Singapore.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate body image disturbance in young women with and without an eating disorder (ED) across two different ethnic groups in Australia and Singapore. METHOD: The relationship of body image disturbance to cultural orientation and socio-cultural factors was analysed in 154 women with and without an ED. Participants were from the following backgrounds: North European Australian, East Asian Australian, Singaporean Chinese (SC) and North European expatriates in Singapore. RESULTS: Irrespective of cultural group, women with an ED had similar body dissatisfaction. Among those without an ED, SC women reported greater body dissatisfaction than all other cultural groups. Finally, within each cultural group, ED participants reported significantly higher body dissatisfaction than their non-ED counterparts with the exception of SC women where there was no difference. DISCUSSION: Socio-cultural factors other than body image may play more important roles in SC women's ED psychopathology.

Restraint and eating concern in North European and East Asian women with and without eating disorders in Australia and Singapore.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate eating disorder psychopathology, restraint and eating concern in young women with and without an eating disorder from two different ethnic groups in Australia and Singapore. METHOD: The relationship of Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire Global, Restraint and Eating Concern scores to cultural orientation and sociocultural factors was analysed in 154 women with and without an eating disorder. Participants were from the following backgrounds: North European Australian, East Asian Australian, Singaporean Chinese and North European expatriates in Singapore. RESULTS: Women with eating disorders had similar psychopathology across the cultural groups. Among controls, Singaporean Chinese reported significantly greater overall eating disorder psychopathology than other cultural groups and greater restraint than North European Australians/expatriates. Eating concern was not associated with cultural group overall or acculturation to Western culture. Dissatisfaction with family functioning, socioeconomic status and education level were not significantly associated with any of the eating disorder measures. CONCLUSION: In eating disorder psychopathology, the specific symptom of eating concern may transcend cultural influences.