Eating disorders in Silesian schools - pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Modern media have a huge impact on eating habits, which result in pathologies among young people, especially females. Fashion models have become a pattern for ordinary women, however the difference in a mean weight between these two groups is increasing. The aim of the study was to assess the correlation between school students' results in EAT-26 self-report questionnaire and their daily diet behavior and to analyze the occurrence of eating disorders among students in schools of the region of Silesia in Poland.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Our survey was based on the EAT-26 (Eating Attitude Test) and Behavioral Four Questions Test. 150 questionnaires were given to students of Secondary Schools, 116 were filled out correctly. The interviewed group consisted of 85 girls and 31 boys. Average age was 17.24±1.18. All of the data were analyzed statistically.

RESULTS: Average BMI was 21,06; half of the recruited subjects had correct BMI whereas over 40% of them presented underweight. Within 116 responses from the EAT-26 nearly 93% belonged to the group with a small risk of the development of future eating disorders. Nevertheless, over 6% of the survey participants were in the group at high risk. In the Behavioral Four Questions Test 10% participants turned out to be in the compulsive overeating group, other ones in the group of a probable development of anorexia (7%) or bulimia nervosa (3%).

CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong correlation between particular daily activities and the score achieved in EAT-26, however there is no significant correlation between the calculated BMI and EAT-26 results. Specific socio-cultural factors are faced by public services. They refer both to health promotion programs and the organization of spare time spent by teenagers outside schools.