Eating disorders in India.

Data on the nature and extent of major eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia is lacking in non-white, native populations of the developing world, leaving a gap in understanding the determinants of these disorders. In a study on 210 medical students examined by a two-stage survey method, 31 subjects were found to have distress relating to their eating habits and body size not amounting to criterion-based diagnosis of eating disorders. The characteristics of this eating distress syndrome are described in relation to the major eating disorders.