How common are eating disorders in the Latino population? Mae Lynn Reyes-Rodriguez Ph.D.

Historically, these disorders have been associated with white upper middle class females. The fact that most of the research, assessment measures, and diagnostic criteria have been developed for the Caucasian population has contributed to the misperception that EDs do not occur in diverse populations. However, EDs occur among all races/ethnicities, ages, sexes, and socioeconomic backgrounds (2,3). Specifically, in the Latino population, our knowledge about EDs comes

from studies conducted in Latin America, but less is known about these disorders in Latinos/as living in the United States. Some studies propose that the prevalence of disordered eating behaviors in Latina women is similar to or higher than those in non-Latina white women (4,5,6). The estimated lifetime prevalence in the United States of anorexia nervosa among Latinos is .08% in women and .03% in men, of bulimia nervosa 1.9% in women and 1.3 in
men, and of binge eating disorder 2.3% in women and 1.6% in men (4). In a study conducted in a large college sample in
Puerto Rico, 3.26% of females and 4.40% of males reported symptoms congruent with the DSM-IV criteria for bulimia nervosa (7). Surprisingly, in this sample, the frequency and severity of symptoms related to bulimia nervosa were more common in males, pointing out the need to explore EDs in males and to develop male-friendly detection and referral programs at college campuses (8).