Premium
The incidence of anorexia nervosa in Netherlands Antilles immigrants in the Netherlands
Author(s) -
van Hoeken Daphne,
Veling Wim,
Smink Frederique R. E.,
Hoek Hans W.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
european eating disorders review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.511
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1099-0968
pISSN - 1072-4133
DOI - 10.1002/erv.1040
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , eating disorders , incidence (geometry) , demography , confidence interval , population , medicine , bulimia nervosa , risk factor , pediatrics , psychiatry , sociology , physics , optics
Abstract Objective Previously we found that the incidence of anorexia nervosa (AN) in the general population was much lower in the Netherlands Antilles than in the Netherlands. As a follow‐up we compared the incidence of AN in the Netherlands in persons from the Netherlands Antilles to native Dutch. Method A national register of psychiatric hospital admissions was screened for cases of AN. Incidence rates (IR) and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were computed. Results The IR of AN was 1.32 per 100 000 person years (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53–2.71) for Netherlands Antilleans and 1.09 (95% CI: 1.04–1.15) for native Dutch. The age‐ and sex‐adjusted IRR was 1.21 (95% CI: 0.58–2.54). Conclusion Contrary to the Netherlands Antilles, in the Netherlands AN is as common among Netherlands Antilleans as among native Dutch. Exposure to the Western idealization of thinness is a risk factor for the development of AN, possibly in interaction with migration‐related stress. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.