Anorexia and Women of Color: Re: Response to article on eating disorders in Africa

» jimkirk - Re: Response to article on eating disorders in Africa

In response to message posted by ydnic:

Thank you for your comments. Your point about people making excuses to cover up their eating disorders is well-taken. I also agree that Western culture affects virtually every corner of the planet.

However, I wish to point out that both my article and the BBC piece to which it refers indicate that the researchers do not necessarily disagree with your conclusion that rural Africans get anorexia for the same reasons Western urbanites do. The BBC report noted that the number of affected girls was small; they did not meet all diagnostic criteria for anorexia; and that further study was needed. The way I read it, the investigators were saying that there MAY be other factors involved in the development of anorexia besides the ones with which Westerners are familiar. This does not rule out the well-known reasons which you have described.

-- posted by jimkirk