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Eating disorders in diverse lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations.

Feldman MB, Meyer IH

Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, Inc., New York, New York, USA. fel26@aol.com

OBJECTIVE: This study estimates the prevalence of eating disorders in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) men and women, and examines the association between participation in the gay community and eating disorder prevalence in gay and bisexual men. METHOD: One hundred and twenty six white heterosexuals and 388 white, black, Latino LGB men and women were sampled from community venues. DSM-IV diagnoses of anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder were assessed using the World Health Organization's Composite International Diagnostic Interview. RESULTS: Gay and bisexual men had significantly higher prevalence estimates of eating disorders than heterosexual men. There were no differences in eating disorder prevalence between lesbian and bisexual women and heterosexual women, or across gender or racial groups. Attending a gay recreational group was significantly related to eating disorder prevalence in gay and bisexual men. CONCLUSION: Researchers should study the causes of the high prevalence of eating disorders among gay and bisexual men.

Published 20 March 2007 in Int J Eat Disord, 40(3): 218-26.
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