Eating Disorders and Cultures in Transition

The concept of eating disorder in Western cultures is a familiar one, for which there is considerable evidence. Eating disorders were once viewed as highly culturally-specific illness, limited to the United States and Western Europe and within specific class and ethnic boundaries. However, there is now a growing awareness that this preoccupation with slimness is spreading to non-western cultures. Eating Disorders and Cultures in Transition analyzes the existing sociocultural model of eating disorder and existing research and clinical work on cross cultural factors in eating pathology in depth. It addresses the emergence of eating disorders in various areas of the world over the last decade including countries in South America, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Well-known international authors examine the problem in a variety of cultural contexts, arguing that we need to extend both our theoretical understanding of eating disorders and clinical work to account properly for eating disorderson a worldwide scale. This book will be of great interest not only to medical and mental health professionals but also to those interested in processes of cultural transformation and their impact on psychiatric problems.