ANOREXIA – NOT JUST A WHITE THING: Docs say disorder crosses color lines

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ANOREXIA – NOT JUST A WHITE THING: Doctors say disorder crosses color lines.

http://eurweb.com/story.cfm?id=19587

"The common perception is that eating disorders plague only white women, especially upper- and middle-class women. While those are the most reported cases, specialists believe all socio-economic and ethnic groups are at risk, reports Associated Press.

"For so long there was the belief that eating disorders only involved young white women," said Gayle Brooks, a black psychologist specializing in eating disorders at the Renfrew Center in south Florida where LeGrand was treated. "What they saw were exclusively white women with the problem."

Black and Hispanic women were thought to be less likely to develop anorexia and bulimia because more voluptuous physiques are generally considered attractive within their ethnic groups. A study in the Journal of Counseling in Psychology in 2001 found that African-Americans were more accepting of larger body shapes and less concerned with dieting.

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Research over the last decade has found these eating disorders among minority women and lower-income women, she said. Increasingly, anorexia and bulimia may be becoming "an equal opportunity disorder," Mintz said, citing other researchers.

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1. An older piece: Anorexia found in rural Africa

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/818725.stm