Abstract
Objective: The aim of the present study was to compare nutrition knowledge levels in young women with and without an eating disorder (ED) in two countries.
Method: Women with a clinical ED (n = 55) and healthy control women (n = 99) in Australia and Singapore completed a Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire, acculturation questionnaire and demographics survey. Nutrition knowledge was analysed in terms of clinical status, cultural group, acculturation, socioeconomic status and education level.
Results: Women with EDs had greater knowledge than controls, but the magnitude of the difference was small. Greater acculturation to Western culture was associated with greater knowledge.
Conclusions: The difference in nutrition knowledge between women with and without EDs is unlikely to be of clinical importance. The findings may reflect today's ubiquitous availability of nutrition information.
Acknowledgements
We thank the hospital and school staff for their assistance in facilitating data collection and all of the participants. The late Pierre Beumont, Professor of Psychological Medicine, University of Sydney, was a significant contributor to the study prior to his death in 2003. This study was partly supported by the Edith Mary Rose Travelling Scholarship and the Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Scholarship, University of Sydney. Part of this study was presented at the fifth annual conference of the Australian and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders, 2007.