Abstract
Objective: The purpose was to examine the eating attitudes across gender and age groups. Method: The study included 343 individuals over 18 years of age (range: 18 to 94 years; mean 48±22), who were divided into 3 age categories: 18 to 34 years, 35 to 64 years and 65 years and above with a distribution of 35% (119), 37% (128) and 28% (97) respectively. The participants completed a background questionnaire and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). Results: A total of 30 participants (8.7%) scored above the cut-off point on the EAT-26 which is indicative of potential eating disturbances. Only statistically significant gender differences were observed in the total EAT-26 scores. Factor analysis revealed three subscales of EAT-26, food preoccupation, image preoccupation, and external focus or social pressure, with acceptable level of reliability and these were used for age and gender comparison. Age and gender differences were observed in the food and image preoccupation subscales only. Discussion: Although EAT-26 is widely used in clinical and non-clinical population, age and gender comparisons have not been made in a population-based sample. Use of the subscales of eating attitudes should help health professionals better identify those at risk for eating disturbances and provide the opportunity for intervention.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chamorro R., Flores-Ortiz Y.: Acculturation and disordered eating patterns among Mexican American women. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 28, 125–129, 2000.
Lucero K., Hicks R.A., Bramlette J., Brassington G.S., Welter M.G.: Frequency of eating problems among Asian and Caucasian college women. Psychol. Rep., 71, 255–258, 1992.
Mujtaba T., Furnham A.: A cross-cultural study of parental conflict and eating disorders in a non-clinical sample. Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry, 47, 24–35, 2001.
Nakamura K., Hoshino Y., Watanabe A., Honda K., Niwa S., Yamamoto M.: Eating problems and related weight control behaviour in adult Japanese women. Psychother. Psychosom., 68, 51–55, 1999.
Russell C.J., Keel P.K.: Homosexuality as a specific risk factor for eating disorders in men. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 31, 300–306, 2002.
Keirnan M., Rodin J., Brownell K.D., Wilmore J.H., Crandall C.: Relation of level of exercise, age and weight-cycling history to weight and eating concerns in male and female runners. Health Psychol., 11, 418–421, 2002.
Kumanyika S., Wilson J.F., Guilford-Davenport M.: Weight-related attitudes and behaviors of black women. J. Am. Diet. Assoc., 93, 416–422, 1993.
Beebe D.W., Holmbeck G.N., Schober A., Lane M., Rosa K.: Is body focus restricted to self-evaluation? Body focus in the evaluation of self and others. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 20, 415–422, 1996.
Hetherington M.M.: Aging and the pursuit of slimness: dieting and body satisfaction through life. Appetite, 23, 198, 1994.
Koff E., Sangani P.: Effects of coping style and negative body image on eating disturbance. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 22, 51–56, 1997.
Garner D.M., Garfinkel P.E.: The Eating Attitudes Test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychol. Med., 9, 273–279, 1979.
Engelsen B.K., Hagtvet K.A.: The dimensionality of the 12-item version of the Eating Attitudes Test. Confirmatory factor analyses. Scand. J. Psychol., 40, 293–300, 1999.
Koslowsky M., Scheinberg Z., Bleich A., Mark M., Apter A., Danon Y., Solomon Z.: The factor structure and criterion validity of the short form of the Eating Attitudes Test. J. Pers. Assess., 58, 27–35, 1992.
Smead V.S., Richert A.J.: Eating Attitudes Test factors in an unselected undergraduate population. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 9, 211–215, 1990.
Mintz L.B., O’Halloran M.S.: The Eating Attitudes Test: validation with DSM-IV eating disorder criteria. J. Pers. Assess., 74, 489–503, 2000.
King M.B.: Eating disorders in a general practice population. Psychol. Med., 19, 1–33, 1989.
Williams P., Hand D., Tarnopolsky A.: The problem of screening for uncommon disorders — a comment on the Eating Attitudes Test. Psychol. Med., 12, 431–434, 1982.
Garner D.M., Olmsted M.P., Bohr Y., Garfinkel P.E.: The eating attitudes test: psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychol. Med., 12, 871–878, 1982.
Smolak L., Levine M.P.: Psychometric properties of the Children’s Eating Attitudes Test. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 16, 275–282, 1994.
Al-Subaie A.: Eating attitudes test in Arabic: psychometric features and normative data. Saudi Med. J., 19, 769–775, 1998.
Choudry I.Y., Mumford D.B: A pilot study of eating disorders in Mirpur (Pakistan) using an Irdu version of the Eating Attitudes Test. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 11, 243–251, 1992.
Dotti A., Lazzari R.: Validation and reliability of the Italian EAT-26. Eat. Weight Disord., 3, 188–194, 1998.
Wells J.E., Coope P.A., Gabb D.C., Pears R.K.: The factor structure of the Eating Attitudes Test with adolescent schoolgirls. Psychol. Med., 15, 141–146, 1985.
Dolan B., Lacey J.H., Evans C.: Eating behaviour and attitudes to weight and shape in British women from three ethnic groups. Br. J. Psychiatry, 157, 523–528, 1990.
Clarke M.G., Palmer R.L.: Eating attitudes and neurotic symptoms in university students. Br. J. Psychiatry, 142, 299–304, 1983.
Rosen J.C., Silberg N.T., Gross J.: Eating attitudes test and eating disorders inventory: norms for adolescent girls and boys. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., 56, 305–308.
Stephens N.M., Schumaker J.F., Sibiya T.E.: Eating disorders and dieting behavior among Australian and Swazi university students. J. Soc. Psychol., 139, 153–158, 1999.
Whitehouse P.J., Harris G.: The inter-generational transmission of eating disorders. Eur. Eat. Disord. Rev., 6, 238–254, 1998.
Miller D.K., Morley J.E., Rubenstein L.Z., Pietruszka F.M.: Abnormal eating attitudes and body image in older undernourished individuals. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc., 39, 462–466, 1991.
Tabachnick B.G., Fidell L.S.: Using Multivariate Statistics. New York, Harper and Row, 1989.
Stevens J.: Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996.
DeVillis R.F.: Scale development: Theory and applications. Newbury Park, Sage, 1991.
Sjostedt J.P., Schumaker J.F., Nathawat S.S.: Eating disorders among Indian and Australian university students. J. Soc. Psychol., 138, 351–357, 1998.
Bresolin L.: Body image and health counseling for women. Arch. Fam. Med., 2, 1084–1087, 1993.
Rodin J., Silberstein L., Striegel-Moore R.: Women and weight: a normative discontent. Nebr. Symp. Motiv., 32, 267–307, 1984.
Berscheid E., Walster E., Bohrnstedt G.: Body image: the happy American body. A survey report. Psychol. Today, 119–131, 1993.
Garner D.M.: The 1997 body image survey results. Psychol. Today, 30, 30–44, 1997.
Gingras J.R.: Body image dissatisfaction: a framework of development and recommendations for dietitians. Can. J. Diet. Prac. Res., 59, 132–137, 1998.
Hurd L.C.: Older women’s body image and embodied experience: an exploration. J. Women Aging, 12, 77–97, 2000.
Thompson J.K., Heinberg L.J., Altabe M.A., Tantleff-Dunn S.: Exacting beauty: Theory, assessment, and treatment of body image disturbance. Washington DC, APA, 1999.
Hesse-Biber S.: Am I thin Enough Yet? Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996.
Gruber A.J., Pope H.G. Jr., Lalonde J.K., Hudson J.I.: Why do young women diet? The roles of body fat, body perception, and body ideal. J. Clin. Psychiatry, 62, 609–611, 2001.
Dewberry C., Ussher J.M.: Restraint and perception of body weight among British adults. J. Soc. Psychol., 134, 609–619, 1994.
Katzman M.A., Wolchik S.A.: Bulimia and binge eating in college women: a comparison of personality and behavioral characteristics. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., 52, 423–428, 1984.
Striegel-Moore R.H., Silberstein L.R., Rodin J.: Toward an understanding of risk factors for bulimia. Am. Psychol., 41, 246–263, 1986.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Johnson, C.S., Bedford, J. Eating attitudes across age and gender groups: A Canadian study. Eat Weight Disord 9, 16–23 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03325040
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03325040