Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:1623-1629
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
Body weight, dieting, and eating disorder symptoms among college students, 1982 to 1992
TF Heatherton, P Nichols, F Mahamedi and P Keel
Department of Psychology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to examine changes in prevalence of dieting
behavior and eating disorder symptoms from 1982 to 1992. METHOD: In 1982,
625 women and 276 men participated in a study examining body weight, eating
habits, dieting tendencies, and eating disorder symptoms. Ten years later
564 women and 235 men at the same college completed a nearly identical
survey. Similar random sampling methods were used for both studies. All
respondents were classified into one of five groups (nondieter, dieter,
problem dieter, subclinical eating disorder, or eating disorder according
to DSM-III-R criteria). RESULTS: On almost all measures there were
significant reductions of problematic eating behaviors and disordered
attitudes about body, weight, and shape from 1982 to 1992. The estimated
prevalence of bulimia nervosa dropped from 7.2% to 5.1% for women and from
1.1% to 0.4% for men. Binge eating, vomiting, diuretic use, and diet pill
use also declined for women during this period. Significantly fewer women
and men reported chronic dieting in 1992 than in 1982, and there was
evidence of improved body image for both sexes. Subjects in 1992 also
reported healthier eating habits in terms of dietary intake and meal
regularity. Finally, women in 1992 were more likely to be overweight and
were, on average, five pounds heavier than their 1982 counterparts.
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of problematic eating behaviors and eating
disorder symptoms appears to be abating. However, they remain a significant
problem that affects a substantial segment of this population.
