socioeconomic differences in obese patients with and without eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to evaluate whether there are any socioeconomic differences in obese patients with and without eating disorders. METHOD: 567 obese participants referred to obesity treatment were divided into one eating-disordered group and one group without eating disorders. Those groups were compared regarding forty socioeconomic variables: education, occupational status, daily occupation and housing area. RESULTS: The prevalence of eating disorders in the sample was 9.8%. Female participants with an eating disorder (ED) had a higher BMI than female participants without an ED. Women with an ED were more often actively occupied, implying that they at the present time were working or studying, and they were also more frequently living in a lower income housing area. No statistically significant differences were found for education or occupational status. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that prevalence of eating disorders does not differ as a function of education or occupational status in patients referred to obesity treatment, but that differences in daily occupation and housing area can prevail for the women in particular. (Eating Weight Disord. 12: e98-e103, 2007). (C) 2007. Editrice Kurtis