ABSTRACT
The influential roles of culture and ethnic identity are frequently cited in developing disordered eating and body dissatisfaction, constituting both protective and risk factors. For African American women, strongly identifying with African American cultural beauty ideals may protect against disordered eating to lose weight, but may actually increase risk in development of disordered eating directed at weight gain, such as binge eating. This study compares African American and Caucasian women on disordered eating measures, positing that African American women show greater risk for binge eating due to the impact of ethnic identity on body dissatisfaction. Findings indicate low levels of ethnic identity represent a risk factor for African American women, increasing the likelihood of showing greater binge eating and bulimic pathology. In Caucasian women, high levels of ethnic identity constitute a risk factor, leading to higher levels of both binge eating and global eating pathology. Implications for prevention and treatment are discussed.
Subject(s)
Beauty Culture , Body Weight , Ethnicity , Feeding and Eating Disorders , Social Identification , Women's Health , Black or African American/education , Black or African American/ethnology , Black or African American/history , Black or African American/legislation & jurisprudence , Black or African American/psychology , Beauty Culture/economics , Beauty Culture/education , Beauty Culture/history , Beauty Culture/legislation & jurisprudence , Binge-Eating Disorder/economics , Binge-Eating Disorder/ethnology , Binge-Eating Disorder/history , Binge-Eating Disorder/psychology , Body Weight/ethnology , Body Weight/physiology , Bulimia/economics , Bulimia/ethnology , Bulimia/history , Bulimia/psychology , Ethnicity/education , Ethnicity/ethnology , Ethnicity/history , Ethnicity/legislation & jurisprudence , Ethnicity/psychology , Feeding and Eating Disorders/economics , Feeding and Eating Disorders/ethnology , Feeding and Eating Disorders/history , Feeding and Eating Disorders/psychology , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , United States/ethnology , White People/education , White People/ethnology , White People/history , White People/legislation & jurisprudence , White People/psychology , Women's Health/ethnology , Women's Health/history , Women, Working/education , Women, Working/history , Women, Working/legislation & jurisprudence , Women, Working/psychologyABSTRACT
Zinc deficiency has been reported in individuals with eating disorders, the risks of which increase during the adolescent and early adult years. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) specific for zinc-rich foods was tested for its usefulness in identifying problematic eating behaviour tendencies in college-age women. Ninety-two female students enrolled in a university introductory psychology course volunteered to complete demographic information, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), and a zinc-specific FFQ (ZnFFQ). Relationships among estimated zinc intakes, food/lifestyle habits, and eating attitude variables were examined. Twenty-five women had estimated intakes below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for zinc. Individuals in the highest zinc intake group (over twice the RDA) had a tendency to score higher on the EAT-26 and the bulimia subscale. Vegetarians also scored high on the EAT-26. Although our data are limited, the ZnFFQ should be studied further to determine whether it could play a useful role in identifying individuals at risk for bulimia. The ZnFFQ is a simple, non-confrontational assessment tool and may be a helpful starting point for identifying women with unhealthy eating habits.
