EATING DISORDERS AND DISORDERED EATING IN DIFFERENT CULTURES

The prevailing cultural analysis of eating disorders emphasizes the effect of a drive for thinness that follows a Western cultural ideal of feminine beauty. The success of this theory has paradoxical implications, highlighting the role of culture but hampering diagnosis of eating disorders and cross-cultural research in some settings. This critical review considers historical accounts of eating disorders; current research and clinical experience; and relaxed patterns of altered eating behaviors, mainly fasting and hunger strikes, in religious, social, and political contexts apart from medicine: From this broader perspective, it summarizes and critically assesses current diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. An agenda for cultural research capable of distinguishing local cultural features and core concepts of eating disorders concludes the review.