Black Undergraduate And White Undergraduate Eating Disorders And Related Attitudes - Eating Disorders in College

Written by Linda Nielsen

Results

Prevalence of Eating disorders

As expected, far more white than black women had eating disorders, had been in therapy for their disorder, and knew other anorexic women.. Nearly 25% of the white women presently or formerly had an eating disorder, compared to only 9% of the black women. In other words, 88 white students but only 4 black students had ever had an eating disorder. Only one black woman and only 4 white women said they no longer had an eating disorder. The remaining 97% still described themselves as having the disorder and almost all had become anorexic as young teenagers. On average their eating disorders had started when they were 15 years old. There were no significant differences between the youngest or the oldest students in terms of the frequency of eating disorders. In short, these results reconfirm that eating disorders are far more common in college women than in the general population - and that white students fare far worse than black students.

Whether students had eating disorders or not, most white and black women knew someone who had an eating disorder. Nearly 92% of the white women and 77% of the black women without eating disorders had known someone who was anorexic. Among those who were themselves anorexic, only half of the black women but 98% of the white women knew another anorexic. But regardless of whether or not they themselves had an eating disorder, most white students knew five anorexics, while the black students knew only two.

Therapy and Parents' Comments

As earlier research suggested might be true, these young black women were far less like than the white women to get professional help for their disorder. Not one of the four black women with anorexia had received professional help, yet nearly half of the white anorexics had been or still were in therapy. Likewise, the black daughters were worse off when it came to how much their parents had ever discussed eating disorders with them. For daughters who have never had an eating disorder, 52% of the white parents but only 25% of the black parents had ever discussed anything with them about eating disorders. For daughters with eating disorders, 65% of the white parents but only 50% of the black parents had ever mentioned or discussed anorexia. This isn't to say that black parents are less concerned about their daughters' well-being. It's more likely that most black parents simply don't realize yet that anorexia and bulimia can affect their daughters - especially when their daughter is a college-bound teenager who is frequently surrounded by white attitudes about women and thinness. It may also be that black daughters are less likely than white daughters to seek professional help or to let their parents know about their problem because they feel they ought to be able to handle such problems on their own.

When it comes to saying something to other girls who have eating disorders, there were also racial differences. Of those who had eating disorders, only 50% of the black women but 75% of the white women had said something to another anorexic about the other person's disorder. In contrast, 95% of the black females but only 50% of the white females who had never had an eating disorder had ever said something about anorexia to someone who had an eating disorder. In other words, the black women were the most likely to say something about eating disorders to someone who was anorexic, but the least likely to say anything if they themselves were anorexic. Again, what might be happening is that black females are more hesitant than whites to discuss their own eating disorders, therefore they won't talk to another anorexic about her eating disorder.

Dieting and Self Satisfaction

Not surprisingly, white women who had never had eating disorders were still much more likely than the black women to have been on a diet and to be dissatisfied with their weight. More than 90% of the black women were "very satisfied" with their weight, compared to only 45% of the white women. Likewise, only 5% of the black women said they were "extremely unhappy" with their weight, compared to 27% of the white women. When asked if they would rather be a "little under weight" or a "little over weight", 60% of the black students but only 15% of the white students chose "a little over weight". Not surprisingly then, over 33% of the black but only 12% of the white women had never been on a diet. Another 25% of the black women but only 10% of the white women had only dieted "once for a brief period of time". At the other extreme, 12% of the white women but only .5% of the black women said that they were "always" on diet.

Of course, the black and the white women with eating disorders had dieted the most, were the unhappiest with their weight, and were the most afraid of gaining weight. Only 40% of these women were satisfied with their weight and nearly 45% were "extremely unhappy". More than 95% had been on diets and 86% said they were "extremely" afraid of gaining weight.

Social Pressure and Family Criticism

Fortunately, only 20% of the women without eating disorders said they had ever felt pressure to lose weight and only 8% said they had ever been criticized by anyone in their family for being too fat. On the other hand, since very few of these young women are over weight, it may be that the reason they didn't feel pressured or criticized is that they were already so thin. In contrast, more than 85% of the white and the black women with eating disorders said they felt a lot of pressure to be thin, even though only 15% said a family member had ever criticized them for being too fat.