Selective dieting patterns among anorectics and bulimics at the onset of eating disorder

Abstract

AbstractA dietary history was used for assessing food selection and dieting patterns at the onset of the eating disorder in a hospitalized group of anorectic and bulimic patients. It was found that anorectics and bulimics adopted different methods to achieve weight loss; anorectics lost weight by a reduction in portion size, while bulimics attempted weight loss with fad diets and leaving out meals. The time from start of anorectic behaviour until onset of binge eating among bulimics averaged 10 months, after which time the patients adopted an eating pattern consisting of intermittent starvation and binges. The findings are discussed in relation to the ‘nutritional hypothesis’ proposed by Fichter et al. (1988).