PREVALENCE OF EATING DISORDERS AND RELATED FACTORS IN GIRL STUDENTS IN MASHHAD, 2017-2018

Background and Aim: Eating disorders are the result of behavioral disorders associated with many Complications. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of these problems and its related factors in high school girls in Mashhad city. Methods: This cross-sectional study was running in 2017 in Mashhad city. The population studied were 400 high school girl students who were study by cluster sampling method. Eat-26 questionnaire was used for diagnosing eating disorders and for identifying those at risk. Variables such as age, parent’s education, menstrual status, stress level and family size were also recorded. Data were analyzed using SPSS software package and chi-squareand Fisher’s exact test. For the definition of obesity and overweight BMI and CDC BMI charts were used.Results: the mean age of population was 15±1 years old. Of the subjects,16% were suffering from overweight or obesity;101 students (25%) were at the risk of eating disorders and 60 (15%) and 10 student (2%) were in Anorexia and bulimia subgroups respectively. . Between BMI status, parent’s education, menstrual status,stress level and family size and risk of eating disorders subgroups a significant relationship was detected (P value < 0/05). Conclusion: This study indicated a high prevalence of eating disorder in girl students in Mashhad, and like many other similar studies, showed that the epidemiological transition, cultural interaction and changing of values has increased incidence of eating disorders and has been considerably high compared with the past decades, thus requiring speculation and employment of effective measures in dealing with these disorders.

Keywords:

Eating disorder , EAT 26 , Obesity and Overweight , Bulimia and Anorexia