Vegetarianism and eating disorders: association between eating attitudes and other psychological factors among Turkish adolescent - Appetite 44 (2005) 309–31 Research Report
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Health Sciences Faculty, Baskent University, Bag ̆ lica Kampusu, Eskis ̧ehir Yolu 20.km, 06530 Ankara, Turkey
As a conclusion, the present study indicated abnormal eating attitudes, low self-esteem, high social physique anxiety, and high trait anxiety in Turkish vegetarian adolescents. The vegetarian adolescents may be more likely to display disordered eating attitudes and behaviors than nonvegetarians.
The adolescent vegetarian is more likely to be female, in middle school, conscious of her weight and body, dissatisfied with her body and involved in a variety of healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors, previously diagnosed by her physician with an eating disorder and was more likely to have contemplated and attempted suicide ( Perry et al., 2002 ).
Adolescent vegetarians are at increased risk for involvement in unhealthy and extreme weight control behaviors, especially adolescent male vegetarians ( Perry et al., 2001 ).
Adolescent vegetarians are at increased risk for involvement in unhealthy and extreme weight control behaviors, especially adolescent male vegetarians.
Vegetarian diets are somewhat more common among adolescents with eating disorders than in the general adolescent population; there- fore, dietetics professionals should be aware of young clients who greatly limit food choices and who exhibit symptoms of eating disorders.
In current study, nearly all male vegetarians (seven) were underweight. Therefore, vegetarian males were significantly more likely than nonvegetarian males to have high eating disturbances. This result is similar to Perry et al. (2001) study. Their study indicated that being an adolescent male vegetarian may serve as an important marker for other unhealthy weight control behavior.
Adolescent vegetarians were significantly more likely to exhibit bulumic behaviors than nonvegetar- ians in a Minnesota study.
Similarly, in an Australian study of 2000 teenagers, vegetarians were more concerned with being slim, and they restricted energy intake more often than nonvegetarians ( Worsley & Skrzypiec, 1998 ).
