Gender, ethnic differences may hamper eating disorder...( s the more familiar binging and purg...),Health

s the more familiar binging and purging cycles seen in girls. Even though the National Eating Disorders Association estimates that approximately 10 percent of people diagnosed with eating disorders are male, alert parents of boys can still sometimes struggle with convincing their health care provider that their son has an eating disorder.

"There is a perception that boys rarely get eating disorders," said Peebles, "and many boys undergo pretty extensive medical workups for other conditions, like gastric problems or brain tumors, before their physicians hit on the right diagnosis."

Ethnic differences may also play into the range of symptoms experienced by people with eating disorders. In the second study, Peebles used a Web-based questionnaire to survey a variety of people who visit Web sites that promote eating disorders about their experiences with the condition. Then she examined differences between ethnic groups, which included Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans.

She found that American Indians and Alaskan Natives, although a very small proportion of the overall sample, were significantly more likely than Caucasians to use laxatives to control their weight. Nearly half (46.7 percent) had been hospitalized at least once as a result of their disordered eating, a criteria shared by fewer than one in five Caucasians (13.2 percent), and they reported a longer duration of disease than the other groups.

"We were surprised and intrigued by these preliminary results," said Peebles, who cautioned that more research is needed. "We know that this group is at high risk for other psychiatric issues, such as alcoholism and PTSD. Our findings suggest that it may be important to screen them for disordered eating."

The Native Americans who participated in the survey also reported higher maximum lifetime weights and lower mi
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Contact: Krista Conger
kristac@stanford.edu
650-725-5371
Stanford University Medical Center
1-May-2007

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