Intraethnic comparison of eating attitudes in native Koreans and Korean Americans using a Korean translation of the eating attitudes test

Although Asian samples have been studied using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), the literature lacks data on Korean samples. Furthermore, although cross-cultural studies of eating disorders have been done, intraethnic studies are lacking. This study concerns an intraethnic Korean comparison of eating attitudes. The EAT-26 was translated into Korean and validated by back-translation and by a preliminary study on 32 bilingual (Korean and English-speaking) Korean women. The validated Korean translation was completed by a sample of 195 native South Koreans (NKs) and the original version by a sample of 39 Korean Americans (KAs). EAT-26 scores seemed to indicate that the NKs had more disordered eating attitudes. Furthermore, the KAs appear to be a low-risk sample for eating disorders. Implications for further research are discussed.