EATING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS OF PREPUBERTAL AND POSTPUBERTAL FEMALES - CLUES TO THE ETIOLOGY OF EATING DISORDERS

Eating disorders are most likely to occur in females in early adolescence. In the hope of identifying the nature of the changes occurring across puberty which may predispose adolescents to eating disorders three groups, 30 prepubertal girls, 28 postpubertal girls, and 28 adult women matched on height and weight to the postpubertal group were compared for meal pattern characteristics and food intake regulation, as well as changes in eating attitudes and behaviors. They completed a set of psychometrics measuring their eating attitudes, body image, and disposition and also maintained 7-day diaries of everything they ingested, time of ingestion, and subjective and social conditions. Neither the overall intakes nor the meal sizes significantly differed between age groups. The prepubertal females ate the most relative to body weight, ate with more other people present and earlier in the day. They were relatively happy, calm, slightly hungry, unrestrained, satisfied with their bodies and depression was associated with lower intake. The postpubertal group, on the other hand, were relatively restrained, ate faster, and ate only 76.5% of the recommended amount. They had a more negative body image, greater dissatisfaction with their bodies, and greater restraint of eating than the prepubertal group, and depression was associated with higher intake. These changes may leave the young woman extremely vulnerable and under the appropriate conditions or with the appropriate personality type may lead to the development of an eating disorder.